A Life Not His Own
by Kidan
Summary: Usual disclaimers apply. A EoV:Rebirth rewrite and AU starting when Anakin and Tahiri were captured, and things go horribly wrong from there
1. Chapter 1

**A Life Not His Own**_  
_

_Dramatis Personae_

Anakin Solo -- Jedi Knight (male human)  
Ch'lor Akkor – Prefect, Baanu Miir (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Ch'roka Toh – Prefect, Baanu Raas (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Corran Horn – Jedi Knight (male human)  
Ganner Rhysode – Jedi Knight (male human)  
Gavin Darklighter – Commander, Rogue Squadron (male human)  
Ghrikma Clan Harr – Commando (male noghri)  
Han Solo – Captain, Millennium Falcon (male human)  
Harrar – Priest, Deception Sect (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Jaina Solo – Jedi Knight (female human)  
Jacen Solo – Jedi Knight (female human)  
Jakan – High Priest (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Kae Kwaad – Master Shaper (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Kyp Durron – Jedi Master (male human)  
Leia Solo – Jedi Knight (female human)  
Lu'ath Raptoq – Shamed One (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Luke Skywalker – Jedi Master (male human)  
Mara Jade Skywalker – Jedi Master (male human)  
Nelani Dinn – Jedi Potential (female human)  
Nen Yim – Adept Shaper (female Yuuzhan Vong)  
P'kar Slooth – Commander, The Festering Scar (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Sooh Sunq – Shaper Initiate (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Taav Uldir – Squad Leader Lorrdian Resistance (male human)  
Tahiri Veila – Jedi Trainee (female human)  
Thrikkes Clan Harr – Commando (male noghri)  
Traest Kre'fey – Admiral, Ralroost (male bothan)  
Tsavong Lah – Warmaster (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Yal Paath – Master Shaper, Baanu Raas (male Yuuzhan Vong)  
Wedge Antilles – Retired General (male human)

* * *

**Chapter One**

Anakin Solo sits in the interrogation room, watching his reflection in the one-way window. He looks around the room again, austere, simple, with faded yellow walls, and the chiped and battered table in front of him. In no uncertain terms, this is an interrogation room. And judging by the sound proofing built into the walls, as well as the scuffed floors and walls, some rather painful interrogation sessions have occurred in here. Silently he wonders to himself when the officer would come back into the room, when someone would come and once more ask him questions.

_Impatient aren't we?_

Anakin chuckles to himself as Tahiri's thoughts intrude onto his consciousness. Ever since he rescued her from the Yuuzhan Vong, he could feel her feelings and hear the thoughts she broadcasted so much better. Closing his eyes, he reaches out to see if he can feel Corran, and finds him as a vague impression of concern in the distance.

Opening his eyes, he caresses Tahiri through the Force. His lips twist into a grin, as she returns the caress. Then the door to the interrogation cell opens, and in walks a middle-aged man. His hair is iron-grey, his face creased with lines. After a moment, he sits in the chair on the opposite side of the table from Anakin.

"I am Jero Inart. What's your name?"

Anakin does not respond.

"That's okay Anakin; we really do know who you are. And we know how much you're worth."

Two more men walk into the cell, and take up flanking positions on either side of him. Jero nods his head.

"Since you've decided to not answer our questions, we've decided to do something a little different. Please don't make this hard on yourself." He motions with his hand for Anakin to stand. "Now, be a good Jedi and come along."

Anakin stands, sending reassurance to Tahiri through the Force. Jero turns around and walks out of the room with Anakin silently following him.

As they go down the stairs, Anakin reaches out with the Force, touching Tahiri, seeing if they're moving her as well. When he gets a negative feeling back from her, he frowns.

The sudden blast of sunlight as he steps outside causes him to squint. As his eyes adjust, he looks around and notices that there are two dozen of the guards standing around the courtyard in front of the building. His two escorts each grab an arm and drag him further away from the building.

Jero pulls a small black box from his pocket, fingering it. "So tell me what ship you came in on."

Anakin tightens his mouth slightly. Jero shakes his head. "Last chance, Jedi. Tell me which ship you came in on, or else I'll blow up the building, with your little girlfriend inside."

Anakin can feel Tahiri's caress in the Force, a questioning probe. Then Jero speaks again. "So be it, Jedi. Just remember, you caused this yourself."

Anakin can hear the click as Jero pushes a button on the small black box, and then his danger sense goes into overdrive. Through his bond with Tahiri, he can feel her danger sense, the sense of urgency that floods her body with adrenaline and the pain in her knuckles as she slams her fists against the door to her cell, he sends a sense of urgency for her to get out through the Force even as he struggles against the men holding his arms back.

He tries to lunge forward, but the two men on either side of him tighten their grips, pulling him to a stop, one of them knocks his feet out from beneath him, slamming him hard down against the ground.

The pressure in the Force builds to a crescendo, and Tahiri's name erupts from Anakin's throat. The sound of his scream is lost in the roar of the explosion. Anakin pushes himself up into a half standing position, the guards still clinging to his arms.

Agony rips through Anakin and he crumbles to the ground, his inarticulate screams giving voice to his pain. A moment later, he pushes out with the Force, throwing the two men who hold his arms against the surrounding buildings. They land against those walls with sickening crunches, sliding down and landing in lifeless piles.

Anakin doesn't care.

Through the pain, he struggles to his feet and takes a staggering step towards the burning building. He stretches out with the Force, trying to find her in the Force, but all he can feel is a great gaping hole, a gouge in his soul.

Where Tahiri should be within the Force, within his mind, where there should be love, light and laughter, there is nothing but an empty desolate void.

He bursts through the doors, into the flaming building, the heat and ash stinging his eyes. Ignoring the flames as they caress his flesh, he pushes further in, once more climbing the stairs. Anakin feels a twinge in the Force, and he jumps ahead, just as a support beam comes crashing down, showering him with ash and cinders. He takes a second to glance behind him, and sees the broken and mangled steps. Turning back, he begins to run up the stairs. He arrives at the second floor, and glances left and right.

He stretches out with the Force again, hoping, begging, and praying to feel some glimmer of her.

He roars his anger and pain again and turns down the hall towards the left. Opening room after room, he searches for her, and finally comes to one which is locked. With a flash of anger-driven power, the door is ripped from the wall and tossed behind him.

He steps into the room and sees her.

He collapses to his knees, giving in to his grief as he pulls her broken and bloody body up to him. He touches her face and lips with his fingertips, praying once more that the Force would not take her from him. Slowly, gingerly he picks up her body, cradling it to him.

He steps into the hallway, and sees the flames have engulfed the entire building. Turning the other way, he sees a window, a blur of a glow in the smoke and flames. Running that way, he pushes with the Force, knocking the window out of the wall. Without hesitation he jumps out and touches the Force, allowing him to land softly in the middle of the courtyard below.

He lays her on the ground, brushing her hair away from her face, tracing her cheekbones with his finger. He notices as a drop of water splashes against her nose, and then realizes that it is a tear. One of his.

"You did this to her Jedi."

Anakin looks up at Jero. He can feel his anger and hate as they spiral out of control. He lowers his head, and steadies his breathing, his eyes locked on her glassy, lifeless ones.

In the back of his mind, he can hear his uncle's voice, as it repeats the words that have been drilled into him since birth. Words saying that anger and hate leads to the Dark Side. That revenge is of the Dark Side. That he should rejoice in her death, rejoice that she has joined the Force.

The shuffle of booted feet, and clicks of weapons, attracts his attention. He glances up and sees his captors, those who placed her in the building. Those who blew her up, who killed her.

He hears his uncle's words, but they hold no meaning, no power over him.

After all, they are merely words.

Anger, hate, vengeance. That is what holds meaning for him; that is what powers him. They are real, viable things. Not the abstract ideas that are words.

Her broken and burned body screams that she needs to be avenged. That those who did this to her need to be punished. His soul cries out for hers, and in the echoing silence of his mind, the only thought that he can think is revenge.

Anakin glances around, finding his saber attached to the belt of one of the men. His eyes flash, and the saber rips from the man's belt and smacks into his hand. He hefts the saber, comforted by the weight and pull of the weapon, the subtle whispers from the lambent. He presses the activator, glorying in the purple glow of his blade.

The thrum of his blade fills him, pushes its way into his mind, telling him that vengeance is nigh.

His eyes focus on Jero as his lips twist into a snarl. "You are going to pay for this."

Pressing his fingertips to her lips once more, he stands and turns back towards Jero. The crackle of the fire behind him, and the hum of his saber are the only sounds that intrude on the scene.

Anakin takes a step forward and the first blaster fires at him. Without thought, Anakin's blade moves and intercepts the bolt, sending it back at who shot it. The shooter flies back, his scream gurgling away with his life's blood.

He grins, at their futility. If they had run they might have lived. He considers himself lucky that they stayed. Once more the sounds of a blaster discharge and two bolts fly towards him. His saber twists and twirls, sending the bolts flying harmlessly away.

His grin twists into something dark and feral as Jero takes a step backwards, fear coloring his face.

Then Anakin becomes a blur, as he pulls the Force to him, pushing extra oxygen into his muscles, overcharging them, his metabolism, his body speeds up. A slice and a scream, followed by another slice and Jero falls to the ground in two pieces.

He stretches out with the Force, gathering a feel for everything around him. Those opponents arrayed against him. Their weapons and the plasma combustion of tibanna gas which produces a blast. Even the rapid rate which his body is burning sugars to power his extra speed and agility. He sees Tahiri's blade on another guard's belt, and stretches out his hand, pulling her saber to his. It ignites as well, and his lips part in a snarl.

Anakin does not hesitate; he attacks the next guard and then the next, until he stands triumphant in revenge, until he stands over the corpses of those responsible for Tahiri's death. For a moment he feels elation, joy and happiness that he has avenged her.

Gone are the doubts and concerns over what is good and right.

Gone are the questions of morality.

Then he turns back to Tahiri, and the despair, hate, anger and grief come crushing upon him again. He extinguishes his saber and kneels down beside her, once more pressing his fingers to her face, reaching with the Force to find any semblance of her, any glimmer of Tahiri left in this broken shell.

He feels the tears as they slide down his face, his entire body shakes as he sobs. The only thing that runs through his mind is that she is gone. The fires of his rage erupt, a flame hotter and brighter than the ones that killed her.

It is a fire that no amount of death and pain can extinguish.

Yet he needs to try. There are other Peace Brigade out there, the same Peace Brigade who were in legion with these killers.

Then there are the Vong. He decides that they to need to be punished, to pay for their crimes which have lead him here, kneeling beside her.

He touches the side of her face, running his fingers down her cheek once again, sobbing as he can feel the warmth fading from her skin.

A hand falls on his shoulder and he turns his head, seeing Corran standing over him, with a stricken look on his face.

His voice cracks as he speaks. "She's dead."

Corran's voice is thick with emotion, his face stretched in ways that Anakin has never seen before. "Come on, we need to get off planet."

Anakin nods his head, and picks up her slim form. His mind casts back to a previous time he carried her, she was a comforting weight, light and supple in his arms, a far different thing than the heavy bulk of dead flesh that he carries today. He remembers her smile, how it would light up her eyes. Now her face is slack, her eyes empty. He keeps his head bowed as he follows Corran back to their ship.

After they board, he carries her body to her bunk, and gently places her upon it, laying his head down beside her still form. He can feel the shudders as the ship launches, and the pulse of energy as they enter hyperspace.

Time passes and Corran appears beside him once more. "You need medical attention."

"Go away."

Corran places his hand on Anakin's elbow, trying to lift him, and Anakin has to bite back the growl that tries to rip from his throat. Corran's words burn into Anakin's heart. "Come on kid, there's nothing you can do for her.

Anakin yanks his elbow from Corran's grasp; he stands and spins towards the older Knight, adopting an aggressive posture. "I can avenge her!"

"You're not falling to the Dark Side on my watch."

Anakin can feel the hate and anger surge through him, making him powerful. "And who's going to stop me."

Corran reaches for his saber, but Anakin is faster. In an eye-blink, he has placed his palm against the older man's chest, and then pulses out with his hate and rage. A blast of lightning pours into and through Corran, slamming through him and against the wall, as if he was not there. In the inferno of energy that courses through his body, Corran is left with a brief moment of pain and anguish, and then every muscle and nerve in his chest erupts under the onslaught of unnatural energies. Anakin stands over him, his breath coming in shallow gulps as he looks down at the dead body, still twitching from the residue of lightning.

Turning away, he once more takes up his vigil over Tahiri's body, trying to decide what he should do next, who he should kill next.

Finally he decides that it doesn't matter. Yuuzhan Vong, Peace Brigade, and anyone else who tries to stop him from avenging her. They will all suffer.

As his finger traces the three scars on his forehead, he decides that he needs to become more than what he is. He needs to become a symbol. A symbol which will strike fear into his enemies' hearts, make them hesitate and ultimately make them regret coming to this galaxy.

Something to make them regret killing her.

Nodding his head, he stands and goes to the cockpit, dropping the ship from hyperspace. Without hesitation, he reprograms the navicomputer, and sends the ship back into hyperspace.

Hours later, Anakin pulls the levers once again, and the blue swirl of hyperspace drops away revealing a planet swathed in sickly yellow clouds. Anakin closes his eyes and can feel the Force radiating from the planet. He opens his eyes again, and swiftly enters Vjun's atmosphere, heading towards Bast Castle from memory.

He lands and carrying Tahiri, once more enters Bast Castle. Deactivating the security system, he calmly goes to the med center, and delivers Tahiri's body to the droids. Two of them take her away, and Anakin feels a moment of anguish as she disappears, but he quickly crushes the emotion, and turns towards the remaining droids.

"I want Vader's armor."

He smiles as the droids carry in the black plasteel armor pieces. Quietly Anakin dresses, covering himself with the black armor, piece by piece, taking up his birthright, his namesake. He clips the cape around him, feeling the steelweave flow and shift against him. Then he picks up the helmet, and looks at it for a moment.

For as long as he can remember, he has been plagued by dreams of becoming his grandfather. Of looking out at the world through the blood colored lenses of the death's head mask. The dreams, tinged with blood and smoke and pain have haunted and dogged his footsteps as he trained in the Force.

He has often wondered if she was what kept them from coming true.

Yet as he pulls the helmet over his head, he is not afraid. It is a comforting thing; it almost feels like coming home.

The helmet clicks into place, and Anakin opens his eyes onto the world. Gone are the blues and yellows and whites. Now everything is shades of red. A press of a button on his chest plate, and the sound from the nightmares of billions of beings is heard once more.

An inhaling hiss, followed by a loud mechanical exhale.

It is the sound of the labored breath of a creature which used to be a man.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Luke Skywalker is deep within meditation. The colors and sights of deep Force meditation assail him, as he plunges the depths of the energy-field that binds all life together, trying to find a course of action for the Jedi.

What are they supposed to do?

Where do defense and offense meet?

Where do they overlap?

And when does one become the other?

All of the problems which have been plaguing him since the start of the war. He can feel frustration beginning to seep in, and his thoughts switch, going from his concerns over the course of the war, to the problems with his wife's pregnancy.

_Tahiri_

Luke's eyes pop opens, shunted from his meditations by a wave of grief and rage. He leans forward trying to catch his breath and then glances towards the Jedi Master sitting opposite from him. Kam's eyes are open as wide as his own, but whether it is surprise at Luke's sudden expulsion from a meditative state or because he felt the disturbance as well, Luke does not know.

"What is it Master?"

Luke frowns, and bows his head, cradling it in his hands. "Pain. Suffering. Death."

"Who?"

"Tahiri and Anakin." Luke scrubs his face with his hand and then stands up. A weight slamming against his shoulders. He glances at Kam once as he begins walking towards the far exit. "Find out where Corran is for me."

"Yes Master." Kam quickly gets up from where he sat across from Luke, and leaves the room.

Luke squeezes the bridge of his nose; feeling the darkness gather around him, around his family even tighter than it had been before. Brushing away the tears that had gathered in his eyes, he finally walks out of the room. He sighs, wondering why his family must suffer this way. Why do his students?

Then he remembers; it is because they are Jedi.

He gasps out loud again and stumbles as he clutches at his chest; a sharp phantom pain spiking through his heart, and grief and rage and hate roll through him, suffocating him. A second later, a wave of darkness swarms up over him, threatening his grip on consciousness.

After a moment, the tide of darkness rolls back, leaving Luke panting hard. He closes his eyes, touching the Force, allowing it to wash away the pain. He opens his eyes, and schools his features, displaying a false face to hide the pain and misery which he so clearly feels within the Force.

Once he has collected himself, he continues down the corridor. Quietly he enters the cabin he shares with Mara, seeing her lying on the bed, her arm draped over her eyes.

He sits on the bed beside her, and touches her arm gently, almost reverently.

_Gone is hope._

He frowns, wondering where that thought came from, as Mara moves the arm from her face, her eyes glistening in the dim light with tears, even as they slowly travel down her face. With a flick of his finger Luke brushes some of them away. "You feel it to?"

She nods. "Yes. Anakin is in pain."

Luke looks away from her, his eyes traveling the walls. "It's worse – I don't feel Tahiri."

Mara winces slightly. "That could explain the pain."

Mara sits up, wincing once again. She gives a quick glance at the chrono. "Come on Farmboy; help me to the med-center for my checkup."

He helps her to a standing position, and arm-in-arm they walk slowly and carefully to the med-center. As Mara lays down on one of the beds, Valin and Clighal walk into the room, chatting about something. Cilghal rolls one of her eyes to look at Mara and smiles and turns her head to focus on both of the Jedi Masters. "How are you feeling today Mara?"

Luke turns from Cilghal to look at Mara, and allows a smile to flicker across his face as he catches her absent-mindedly rubbing her swollen belly. Mara catches his smile, and answers with one of her own. "Watch it farmboy."

At that moment, Luke's comlink chirps. Luke flicks on the device. "Skywalker, go ahead."

"Luke, Kam, apparently Corran, Tahiri and Anakin went to Eriadu. They took the _Lucre_ but aren't responding to hails."

"Thanks Kam, keep trying to get a hold of them."

Luke turns back to Mara, frowning at how ashen and gray her face appears. He tunes out the whispered conversation between the healer and his wife, and delves into the Force once again. He probes the Force for the cause of Anakin's pain, Tahiri, an answer to his wife's ailments, and the direction for the Jedi in this war.

Opening his eyes, he sighs as once more he is given no answer.

He steps closer to Mara's bed, and looks to Cilghal. "How is she – and the baby?"

One of Cilghal's eyes turns towards him. "The baby is still healthy, and we are working at bolstering Mara's strength."

Luke nods his head, and opens his mouth to say something else, and at that moment, Valin screams.

Luke turns towards the young apprentice, and sees him kneeling on the ground, holding his head in his hands.

"Valin!"

The teen looks up at Luke, tears streaming down his face. "D-d-dad. My d-dad is d-d-dead." Then he lowers his head once again, as the sobs rack his body.

Luke glances at Cilghal. "Call Mirax here."

Then he kneels beside Valin, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder, sending comfort through the Force. "Valin, can you tell me what happened?"

Valin's body shakes once more and he replies without looking up, "I felt a surge of pain run through him, and then he faded from the Force." Valin looks up at Luke, tears streaming from his eyes. "I can't feel him anymore."

Luke wraps his arm around the boy, as they wait for Mirax to arrive. A few minutes later, Mirax enters the room at a run, in her arms she holds Jysella, and the three year old little girl is screaming and crying as well.

She sees Luke, and her face drops even further. "What's wrong?"

Luke looks up from Valin to Mirax. "I'm so sorry Mirax, its Corran."

----------------------------

Nen Yim suppresses the urge to bite her lips as she watches the villip, listens to what the speaker says. "You do not need that knowledge Adept Yim. Obey the protocols you have access to. I do not wish to speak to you again; you have brought enough shame down upon our domain."

She bows her head, her headdress shifting to signify her obedience. "I understand Master."

The villip inverts, and Nen Yim sighs, slumping onto the stool biot next to her work area. She glares at the villip, wondering how she is to save the people of the _Baanu Miir_. As she watches it, it shudders, asking to be activated. She caresses the villip and it inverts, rolling back and away to reveal the face of the Master she had just been talking to.

Without waiting for a greeting, he begins talking. "I have reconsidered. The taint of heresy surrounds you, and I do not think it wise of us to leave you on the _Baanu Miir_ without supervision. A Master will be there soon."

With an effort of will, she keeps the horror from her face. "I do not believe that is necessary, if you would just send me th-"

"Enough!" His loud voice cuts her off in mid sentence, and Nen Yim bows her head once more. "I have made my decision; the Master Shaper is already on his way. He will be there within a week."

The villip inverts before Nen Yim can utter a reply and her headdress twists in horror as she stares at the closed villip. She looks around the room, as she considers the words the Master of her domain had just told her.

A Master Shaper is to arrive here on the _Baanu Miir_ within the week.

She glances once more around her personal quarters, knowing without doubt that her heresy will be revealed by whoever is sent. It cannot be hidden. Every task her and the initiates have performed since her arrival has been tainted by heresy.

The door releases the admittance request pheromone, and Nen Yim walks over and presses her hand against the nerve cluster, allowing the entrance to open. Her initiate is standing there, and he genuflects, a mixture of a bow and a twist of the headdress. She admits him to her quarters, gesturing with her shaper's hand.

"What are your orders, Adept?"

She rubs the hand across her chin, sensor probes picking up the taste and smells of fear and nervousness that still clings to her skin, and she quickly drops her hand.

"A Master is arriving soon, but for now we shall continue on as usual, and attempt to stop the death of the various parts of the _Baanu Miir_."

The Initiate bows once more. "I obey Adept."

Then he is gone, and Nen Yim is once more left alone to her thoughts and fears. She sighs, and opens up her personal qahsa, delving into her experiments, her notes on a process of advancing knowledge in a reproducible way.

She has less than a week to figure out a way to stop the death of the _Baanu Miir_ and to hide her heresy where a Master cannot find it.

-----------------------------------------------

Jaina exits hyperspace, and sees a small ice planetoid directly in front of her. She frowns at her screen, the tracking beacon telling her that Kyp is there. Shrugging her shoulders, she closes and sees a landing beacon light up. She hesitates, wondering if she should land.

Her comm crackles, the voice that comes out is harsh and unforgiving. "Land."

Startled she glances down, but only hears static. Her nose twists slightly as she makes a decision, and heads towards the beacon. As she nears, a crack appears in the ice, it is an entrance to an underground hanger. She directs her craft in, and lands on a clear patch of ice. She glances back at the entrance and notices that it has closed behind her.

She looks around, seeing if she recognizes anyone, especially if Kyp Durron is around. She sees him stride confidently from one of the doors, and quickly finishes her post-flight checklist. By the time she's done, he's standing beneath her ship, looking up at her expectantly. She breaks the seal on the cockpit, and pushes the canopy up, and then she jumps down, landing at a crouch next to the Jedi Master.

As she stands, he smiles at her, a warm, happy smile which manages to give her flutters and somehow simultaneously makes her sick to the stomach.

"Hello Jaina, this is a pleasant surprise."

She looks at him through half-lidded eyes, one eyebrow quirks slightly as a ghost of a smile begins to play on her lips. "You mean the great Kyp Durron isn't omniscient?"

Kyp laughs. "I'm only omniscient until you show up Princess. Then everything I know gets thrown in the 'fresher."

The smile which was threatening to appear on her face is quickly replaced by a scowl. "Don't call me 'Princess' Durron, I'm not your Princess."

Kyp raises his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

She opens her mouth to reply when pain stabs deep into her heart. Her hands grasp her head as the Force floods with dark emotions. Pain. Misery. Grief. Anger.

She feels an arm lay on her shoulder, and she casts out to her family through the Force, trying to find the source of the anguish and pain. She feels the coldness of the floor beneath her knees, and has a moment to wonder when she dropped to kneel, before another wave of anger and grief washes over her.

She touches Anakin in the Force, and lets out a short yelp of surprise as she is slammed with overwhelming darkness.

"Anakin! No!"

She grabs onto the arm which rests on her shoulder, levering herself hard against the surprised Jedi Master, who stumbles back slightly under her grasp.

The word "No!" rips from her throat, a harsh surprised yell attracting the attention of everyone in the hanger.

Before the echoes can die away, she is lost to unconsciousness.

----------------------------------------------------

Leia finds her eldest son, in the same place he has been for the past three days. She walks up to the E-Wing, and sees Jacen's boots sticking out from underneath the wing, as he performs routine maintenance and upgrades its shields and weapons systems. While he is not nearly the mechanic that either of his siblings is, he is more than equal to do those tasks.

She sighs to herself, fearing for the gulf between Han and Jacen. Knowing that father or son of them truly understands the other, though both are more alike than either is willing to admit. After all since their return to the Maw, neither has spoken to the other, and both are acting like sullen toddlers.

The sound of her booted feet on the deck causes him to look out from underneath the ship, and he sees the white hem of one of the dresses she favors. Sliding out form underneath the ship, he sees his mother standing there, her arms crossed over her chest, and inscrutable expression on her face.

"You know your dad loves you right?"

Jacen smiles slightly. "I know."

"He just doesn't understand you."

"I know that too."

"The fight the other day is really hurting him."

Jacen sighs, and stands up. "Believe it or not, I really do know all of this. I understand."

"So are you leaving?"

Jacen shakes his head. "No, I'm staying. I signed up to help the two of you, and I can understand what Dad was saying the other day."

Leia's face breaks out into a smile. "I was hoping you would say that."

Jacen lets a grin, one oddly reminiscent of his father's, slide onto his face. "I know."

As his mother opens her moth to reply, they can both feel pain stab into their hearts, a general darkening of the Force as someone close to both of them grapples with anger and hate. Jacen drops to his knees under the onslaught of misery, and retches, while Leia stumbles and leans against the E-wing tears streaming down her face.

Through the pain and misery, Jacen is able to say two words, "Anakin….no."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three **

Anakin balls his hand into a fist, listening to the crackle of leather. He walks back and forth a few times, still getting his body used to the comforting weight of the armor and steelweave cape. The slight modifications made to the armor ensure that it fits him better since he lacks his grandfather's height. He can feel the burn scars on his face twist painfully as he smiles. Turning his attention from his fist back to the list of materials he has at his disposal, he can feel his smile grow even larger.

He punches in a command, issuing an order to activate a thousand units of the phase II Dark Troopers.

A porter droid appears at the doorway of his chamber. "Milord, were your plans to stay with us overnight?"

"No. Is the _Scimitar _available?"

"Yes Milord."

Anakin grins once more, as he stands and walks from the room, heading towards the hanger. Once he arrives, he cannot help but smile at the starship which sits in the middle of the bay, highlighted by floodlights. In something approaching awe, he walks around the ship, admiring her smooth, simple lines, dagger-shaped bows, and the spherical multi-level module for equipment, cockpit and living quarters. According to the records, this ship is over fifty years old, but her design and performance profiles indicate that she is still able to out-fly almost anything running today. Plus there are the other technological toys which make this ship such a find.

But even beyond the sheer engineering beauty which this ship is, there is something more fundamental, something darker, about her which calls to him. The _Scimitar _beckons him to board her, promising freedom and adventure.

It is a call which Anakin happily accepts.

He boards the egress hatch located immediately underneath the twin ion engines.

He sits at the pilot's station, entering coordinates into the navicomputer, and picks up the datapad from beside him. He glances at the description of the planet Lorrd once more, nodding his head. According to latest reports, the Vong have taken it and set up another training facility. He considers it the perfect place to kill Vong at.

He finishes his pre-flight checks, and sends power to the engines. Their thrum is comforting, and resonates in his chest. He powers up the repulsors, and slowly directs the ship from the hanger. As soon as he clears the magfield, he points the nose towards space, and pushes the throttle down.

With a scream of the ion engines, the _Scimitar _erupts from atmosphere, and with a flicker of pseudo-motion falls into hyperspace. Hours later, Anakin drops the ship out of hyperspace and takes up orbit around the planet Lorrd.

He flicks a switch, activating the cloaking device, and turns on the sensors. He reaches out through the lambent in his lightsaber and feels the Vong on the planet beneath him. Then he stretches out with the Force, and feels the humans left behind, some exhibiting the flickering Force presence of Vong slaves, while others feel whole and alive, and seeking vengeance. One of the humans shines brighter in the Force. More alive, more there than the others. He focuses on that Force presence for a moment, and nods his head, already coming up with an idea.

Smiling once again, he lands the Scimitar in a wooded area, outside of the largest Vong settlement on the planet. He calmly walks towards the back of the ship, and walks down the egress ramp. With steady steps he begins the hike towards the settlement.

The rhythmic, mechanical breathing acts as a paging device for the warriors.

The first one appears from the underbrush, announcing his presence with the leathery flap of a thud bug. Anakin turns that way, igniting his saber and catching the bug on its blade.

The warrior advances, his amphistaff undulating in his arms. With a roar, the warrior stomps forward, a charge, with his weapon rigid and aimed at Anakin.

Anakin watches as the warrior rushes towards him, and stretches out with the smallest amount of the Force, hardening the air in front of him, bonding the molecules together through force of will until they become as hard as transparisteel.

Then the warrior runs into that invisible wall, and Anakin laughs at the confusion on the warriors face. With another touch of the Force, he pushes his body to the incredible speeds available to him, and appears next to the still stunned warrior. With a smile, he shoves his saber into the underarm of the warrior, slicing through his armor's gills and stabbing deep into the warrior's body.

Then extinguishing his saber, he stalks forward, listening to his lambent as more warriors advance on his position.

-------------------------------------------------

Nen Yim and her initiate Sooh Sunq stand at attention as the small yorik coral vessel lands in the _Baanu Miir_'s primary docking area. An ancient creature slowly debarks from the small craft, and hobbles his way to the two shapers. In disgust, Nen Yim looks at the new Master, noting the dying implants, including the shaper's hands which appear fully dead. It takes all of her self-control to not stare openly with her mouth hanging open in disgust.

The elderly shaper, hobbles towards them, stopping around two meters from them. "I am Kae Kwaad."

Nen Yim and Sooh genuflect their headdresses. "I am Adept Nen Yim, and this is your initiate Sooh Sunq."

Kae turns his eyes on her, and Nen Yim once again has to force her face to remain impassive, to not show a reaction to her emotions at his appearance. His eyes are clouded by the madness and dementia of old age, and his implants appear to be dying and rotting on and within him. "Yim, Yim. I do not like that name. I will decide on a new one for you later. For now, take me to the shaper's grashal."

Soon they arrive at the shaper's quarters, and the old man looks around the room, the madness fading slightly from his eyes. After a moment, the old man looks once more at Nen Yim. "We shall shape now. Access the _Qang Qahsa_, and get the protocols on the grutchins."

"Grutchins?"

"Yes! Of course the grutchins! We shall make a perfect grutchin, the grutchin which exists in Yun Yuuzhan's mind!"

Nen Yim's headdress twists in surprise. "But Master, what about the ship's brain?"

A flap of the dead hand. "It matters not. The ship's brain is dead. For now we shall shape!"

"But-"

"Enough!" Kae's eyes flash. "I have spoken. Do not question me. Shape! We are shapers, and we must do so." The old man cackles madly and whirls back around to face her. "I have thought of your new name, you shall be called Nen Tsup."

Nen Yim cannot control her facial expression as the outrage and anger spread across her face. The insult inherrent in that name is too great. A tsup is the lowest form of slave, used merely for the physical pleasure of its master, and suffers the gravest of depravities.

The old shaper spins around, looking for something, and goes over and caresses the _Qang Qahsa_. "Now! Let us shape!"

---------------------------------------------------

Nelani Dinn crouches beside her squad mates. Silently they watch the armored monster as he calmly and methodically walks through the various Yuuzhan Vong warriors and intendents, killing them all without hesitation or mercy. His black armor tugs at a memory from her days in school, but it refuses to come.

She looks at the leader of their little group, an older man, who was with the Empire's Storm Commandos during the Galactic Civil War. His normally white hair and pale skin appears even paler than usual. She presses her hand against his shoulder, and he turns towards her.

"Who is that?" she whispers.

He gives a barely perceptible shake of the head. "I don't know, but he's dressed as Darth Vader."

Nelani quickly covers her mouth to keep the gasp from escaping. Even at fifteen she had heard stories about the Dark Lord of the Sith, and the horrors he perpetuated among the galaxy's populace. That is the memory that was trying to come to her. She glances out the small window again, and re-evaluates her thinking.

_If he can kill Vong so effortlessly, then maybe he's not all bad._

Finally the dark form stops, the only sound that can be heard is his steady breathing and Nelani looks out the window once more to find the dark form staring at their hiding place.

She feels like he is staring at her.

Frowning, she glances back down towards the squad leader. "Taav? I-I think he's coming this way."

The old man's eyes widen slightly and he looks out the window to see the armored man calmly walking towards their hiding spot, his lightsaber glowing purple in the afternoon sun.

He stops three meters from their bolt hole. "Come out. There are no more Vong here."

Nelani glances at Taav, who gives another imperceptible shake of the head. She glances out the window at the man, and though the mask covers the face, and the cape hides his body language, she can feel his anger that they have not obeyed his wishes.

She jumps when he speaks again. "Come out now, or I'll destroy that building."

None of her squad moves, and she imagines a wave of rage rolling off of him. He stretches out his hand, and balls it into a fist. With a thunderous crashing sound, a section of the building crumbles in on itself, sliding to a large pile left of them.

"Last chance."

She looks at Taav, and he catches her eye a brief shake of his head. She understands that he's ordering her to remain where she is at. She looks out again, and sees the man raising his hand again. She is given the choice of exposing herself to possible death, or staying in the bolt hole and dying. She glances once more at Taav, her instincts telling her to move now. Nelani sighs, and then jumps out of the hiding hole, and walks out in front of the man. A second later, the three others in her squad joins her, and she can feel Taav staring daggers at her back.

He turns his mask slightly to look at each of them, and then focuses on Nelani. "You are fighting the Vong. This is good. But you can do so much more."

Taav steps around her. "Who are you, and what do you mean so much more?"

The masked face turns towards Taav. "I am Lord Vader, and you are not the one I was talking to."

"I am respo-erk!"

Vader holds his arm out, and Taav is lifted off the ground, and starts clutching at his throat. For a moment nothing happens, and then he drops to the ground in a heap. Vader looks down at him, and then speaks again, "I said I was not talking to you."

He faces Nelani once more. "The Force is with you, come with me, let me train you, and we'll fight and destroy the Yuuzhan Vong."

Nelani does not speak, but just merely nods her head.

Vader looks her over once more. "What is your name?"

"N-Nelani Dinn."

"Very good Nelani, you will come with me."

"But I have responsibilities here, what about those?"

Vader stretches out his hand again, and Taav lifts from the ground. He once again balls his hand into a fist, and she hears a horrible cracking sound, quickly followed by a gurgling scream which she can hardly believe could come from a human's throat. As she turns away from Vader, she notices him tighten his fist once more, and Taav's screams suddenly cut off. Nelani faces Taav, horror on her face, as he falls from a meter in the air, crashing to the ground into a lifeless pile. She runs to his side, and touches his neck. When she is unable to find a pulse, she looks around for the others in her squad and doesn't see them.

She closes his eyes, hiding the fear which was evident in them, even in death. She stands, and looks at Vader, the tears threatening to fall. "You killed him. Why?"

"He was holding you back, keeping you here. Now, will come with me, or do you still feel some responsibilities to those on this planet?"

Nelani looks down at Taav, then back up at Vader. "I-I'll go with you."

"Good. Follow me."

Then he turns and begins to walk away. Nelani glances down at the crumpled lifeless form of her squad leader, the closest thing to a father she has had since the Vong invaded, since the Vong killed her real father. Then she glances towards Vader's retreating back.

With a final moment of hesitation, Nelani follows.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four **

Commander P'kar Slooth stands amidst the carnage and destruction on Lorrd. His remaining eye scans each twisted and broken body. Anger wells up within him as he looks at all the bodies, all the bodies which have been left in the fields where they fell; left for the carrion eaters to consume. He snarls as he wonders what sort of creature would just leave the dead to rot in the fields of battle.

The sound of someone approaching attracts his attention, and he turns his head slightly towards it. He sees two warriors, with a member of the Shamed between them. P'kar finishes his turn so he can watch their approach. As they arrive, the warriors shove the shamed one to his knees, and then barks in command, "Tell your story."

The shamed one bows his head. "It was a _Jeedai_, in black armor. The warriors went after him, and he slaughtered them all, without hesitation."

The commander looks around at the dozens of dead warriors, he scratches at his forearm, where his new armor implants are growing. "You expect me to believe that a single _Jeedai_ did this?"

"Yes, milord."

P'kar turns and sneers down at the shamed one, then turns towards the warrior on the right, and gives a quick nod of the head. The warrior pulls his amphistaff away from his body, and smoothly stabs down, and flicks the wrist, removing the shamed one's head from his body. P'kar watches as the head rolls to a stop. A muscle on his cheek twitches. "A good death, he did not beg, did not call out in pain. Maybe Yun Shuno had mercy on him."

P'kar looks at that warrior. "Is there any other corroborating evidence to support that story?"

The warrior nods his head. "Yes Excellency, the other shamed ones speak the same story, and even an infidel that we have captured told a story of a _Jeedai _in this dark armor slaughtering the entire complement of warriors."

"And where is this _Jeedai _now?"

The warrior glances at his companion for a second. "We do not know. The yammosk reports neither landing nor launch of an infidel craft, yet the infidel we captured says there were no Jeedai on this planet."

P'kar's lip pulls away from his mouth. "And what are we doing to find this invisible _Jeedai_?"

"We have the two contingents of warriors out searching now."

"Go attend to the search, and pray that Yun-Yammka smiles upon you."

The warrior snaps a salute and walks away. P'kar focuses on the second warrior. "Bring me the warmaster's villip."

The warrior snaps his fist to his chest. "_Belek tiu_."

P'kar continues his circuit around the destroyed damutek, a snarl on his face as he plots the demise of whichever infidel did this.

A thump of a fist against chest armor attracts his attention, and he turns to find a warrior holding a villip. He takes the villip and turns away, walking a short distance to where he can set the villip upon a small ledge. He strokes it, and waits.

After a few minutes, the villip inverts, rolling back and displaying the visage of Tsavong Lah.

"Report."

P'kar nods his head, and then describes the deaths on Lorrd, and the destruction of the training facility there.

A dark storm gathers on the warmaster's face. "Do we know who did this?"

"The shamed and infidels left alive report a _Jeedai _wearing black armor."

"A single _Jeedai _destroyed the entire complement of warriors on Lorrd?"

"And intendents, and shapers. The only ones left alive were the Workers, the Shamed and the slaves."

Tsavong Lah lets out a low growl, and P'kar wonders if he is going to be ordered to sacrifice himself for this report.

"Release the ot'vasu spores; ensure that nothing survives on Lorrd."

P'kar salutes. "It will be done warmaster._ Belek tiu_."

Then the villip inverts upon itself, and P'kar lets out a breath, perversely happy to have survived this report.

-----------------------------------------------------

Luke looks at the pretty, young scientist before him and smiles at her. "It's nice to see you again Danni, how can I help you?"

Danni shuffles her feet slightly, and looks down. "I was hoping to be able to test some theories of mine out on the front lines. I have some ideas about Yuuzhan Vong communication and gravity."

Luke rubs his temple with a finger for a second, and then he gestures to the chair at the table that is opposite him. "Tell me a little more."

Danni sits down in the chair opposite the Jedi Master, and the proceeds to tell Luke about her theories on how the Yammosk, the Yuuzhan Vong war coordinators, communicate using micro-gravitic pulses, which could then be picked up by the dovin basils or other biots on the coral skippers.

When she is done, Luke leans back in his chair thinking. "And if you find these communication pulses, what exactly is it that you intend to do with them?"

Danni's face screws up slightly in thought. "I don't know. Jam them or something I guess."

Feeling a tingle in the Force, Luke looks towards the doorway of the mess and sees his next appointment. Smiling he stands up and gestures for Saba Sabatyne to come over to them. Saba is a Barabel, from an aggressive reptilian species who Luke initially thought too aggressive for Jedi training. Jedi Master Eelysa had disagreed with Luke and decided to train her Saba on her own. Eelysa had apparently made the right decision. Luke stands and bows and Saba returns the gesture.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Master Sabatyne."

Saba's eyes flicker in surprise. "This one is pleased az well Master Skywalker."

Luke sits down, and Saba hesitantly does the same. "Good, now tell me about your squadron, and what you are planning to do now."

Saba's eyes flicker over towards the blonde scientist she is sitting next to, and then tells Luke of the Wild Knights and their exploits around the Outer Rim.

Luke nods his head once more. "Master Sabatyne, I would like to introduce you to Danni Quee. She is a scientist who needs to do some research on the front lines, specifically engagements where Yammosks would be located."

Danni holds her hand out to shake it, and Saba looks down at it, her dorsal ridges lifting slightly. Danni glances at Luke who shakes his head imperceptibly and Danni drops her hand. After a second, Danni speaks again. "It is a pleasure to meet you Master Sabatyne."

"The pleasure belongz to this one, Danni Quee." Saba looks to Luke. "Doez thiz one understand that you are asking her to take Danni Quee to the front linez with her?"

Luke nods his head. "If you would be willing." Then he gestures between the two of them, but looking at Danni. "Danni, I would also like you to take the time to learn some more Force skills from Master Sabatyne."

Danni glances at Saba and then back at Luke. "I will try Master."

Luke smiles at her. "Do or do not. There is no try." Luke leans forward, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "And that is your first Jedi lesson."

Danni bobs her head, and sighs slightly. Saba looks up. "If this one may make a request?"

"Of course Saba."

"This one has trained her son Tesar Sabatyne, and Tesar's hatchmates, Bela and Krasov Hara. I have trained them as best I can, but there is still too much of the Hunter in this one, and they would benefit from the training of one who is more at peace than a Barabel."

Luke grins. "I will see to it that their training is finished."

Saba spreads her lips wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth. "This one iz pleased." Then she turns to Danni. "Come Dannie Quee, I shall show you to your new home."

The pair stands and walks from the mess. Luke puts his hand over his eyes and sighs as he leans back in his chair. After a moment, he stands and walks out of the room, heading towards a training session with the younger trainnees.

-----------------------------------------------------

Jaina slowly comes to, and as she opens her eyes, finds herself staring up into Kyp's dark eyes, dark eyes which are currently filled with actual concern. Dark eyes which are causing flutters to appear in her stomach. "Are you okay Jaina?"

She quickly closes her eyes, and tries to sit up and quell her traitorous stomach. "Yes, I'm fine. It wasn't me, it was," she wipes away some tears which had started to travel down her face. "It was Anakin."

She glances around, noticing the other pilots surrounding her and can feel a blush start to creep up on her cheeks. "I'm all right, really. You can all go back to what you were doing."

She sighs slightly, happy that the other pilots slowly begin to return to their tasks and have stopped watching her. As the last pilot leaves, she looks once more at Kyp. "I need to get in contact with Uncle Luke."

"Sorry Jaina, we're to close to a Vong occupied planet for that."

Jaina frowns at Kyp, and gets ready to argue the fact.

"Besides, I have something important to show you."

She rocks back slightly, her eyes widening minutely. "What?"

Kyp smiles at her. It is a smile which causes Jaina's stomach to flutter once again. Her thoughts turn darker at this second betrayal from her body concerning the rogue Jedi Master. His smile doesn't waver. "Come on, I'll show you."

Kyp helps her up, and they walk towards a briefing room. Once in there, he darkens the lights and turns towards her. "This has cost us a lot to get, and it's why we're here."

She glances at the ceiling. "Just so long as it doesn't get too dark in here Durron."

He chuckles as he activates the viewscreen, and an image appears; one of a giant mass of yorik coral.

"A worldship?"

In the dim light, she sees Kyp nod his head. "Yes and no. The Vong are growing it using the remains of Sernpendil. But continue watching. A worldship in and of itself isn't that bad."

She turns her focus back on the monitor, and the view shifts slightly, taking in the star. Then she sees a solar flare launch, and as she watches, she starts to frown. It is not acting like a solar flare should. It's not collapsing back around to the star. A cold knot appears in her stomach, and shivers run down her spine as the stream of solar plasma stretches from the star, reaching out for the worldship, where it appears to be absorbed.

"Emperor's black bones."

"My thoughts exactly." Kyp turns freezes the viewer with the worldship on screen, and turns up the light, turning to face her. "Jaina, I need your help."

Startled, she turns from the monitor to face Kyp, her breath catching as she looks into his eyes. "My help?"

"Yes. I can't destroy this on my own, and the New Republic military, well they don't listen to me very much. But they will listen to you. I need you to take this to them, and make them see that it needs to be destroyed."

She glances back at the monitor, that cold knot still sitting in the pit of her stomach. "I'll take it to them, but I can't promise that they'll listen to me."

Kyp nods his head. "That's all I ask."

He holds out his hand to her. "But for now, let me show you to a room where you can get cleaned up, and get you some food."

She looks warily at his hand, before grasping it. "Lead the way, Master Durron."

----------------------------------------------------------

Mara reclines in a conform chair in their shared quarters as Luke walks in. She looks up from the datapad she is reading to give him a smile, which quickly transforms into a smirk at his appearance. She allows her eyes to travel up and down his body, which is currently covered in seven distinct colors.

Finally she can't help it any longer and lets out a laugh. Luke glowers at her. "Those trainees of ours enjoy practical jokes just a little too much."

Mara continues chuckling, her eyes brightening slightly for the first time in days. "Well it could be worse?"

"Oh? How exactly?"

The smirk is back on her face, even as her shoulders still continue to shake with suppressed laughter. "You could've been covered in feathers after they painted you."

Luke glares at her for a moment, before sighing and dropping into a chair of his own. "That's true."

"I'm hungry."

Luke looks at his wife for a moment, and then leverages himself out of the chair. "You were just waiting for me to sit down before you said that weren't you?"

She paints an innocent expression on her face, one hand lightly touching her chest. "Me?" Then she laughs. "Go get cleaned up, so you can take me to get food."

He returns her laughter, and heads towards the refresher. Fifteen minutes later Luke and Mara slowly walk down the corridor towards the Officer's Mess. His fingers are twined around hers, his Force presence caressing hers with their every step. He gives her a sideways glance, physically checking to ensure she's doing okay.

"I'm fine Skywalker."

Luke chuckles. "I know. I'm just worried about all of things that have been happening."

She turns towards him and Luke smiles at the fire in her eyes. "Well don't worry about us Farmboy, we'll be perfectly fine."

She winces, and her free hand grasps at her stomach.

"Mara?"

She speaks through clenched teeth. "I'm fine." After a moment, she straightens fully, and releases her stomach. "Just pressure on the muscles causing pain. Your son is sitting too low."

Luke frowns for a second, but doesn't say anything else. He has long since learned that if Mara needs help, she will ask for it.

They finally arrive at the mess, and Mara sits down at the table, while Luke goes to get them some food. As he nears the line, he feels a sharp pain through the Force, and then hears a crash. Turning around, he sees the table where Mara was sitting empty. Muttering a curse, he rushes that way, to find her unconscious on the deck.

He pulls his comlink as he kneels beside her. "Medical emergency in the Officer's Mess, deck 5."

Ignoring any reply, he delves into the Force, trying to find his wife.

----------------------------------------------

Han presses a cool cloth to Leia's forehead, whispering unintelligible sounds to her. Leia opens her eyes a crack, to find herself staring into Han's, and a grin beginning to stretch his lips.

"Hey Princess."

Even through the pounding of her head, she can feel a grin stretch her own lips. "Nerf herder."

He barks a laugh, before growing serious once again. "So, any idea what that episode was all about?"

She looks around the small room. "Yes and no. It was Anakin. Something bad has happened to him…he's still alive, but he flooded the Force with pain and hatred." She can feel a tear begin its journey down her face, and she absently wipes it away.

Han's lips tighten together, pressing into a thin white line. "I wonder what caused it."

She shakes her head minutely. "I don't know." She reaches out to her youngest son, touching his presence briefly, grimacing at the black well of rage which he has become. "But his anger isn't going away."

Han frowns for a second. "So what's our plan now?"

Leia sits up from the bed. "We still have those meetings over the next few weeks. Then after that we might need to visit Coruscant to speak with some people there about Luke's River."

Han frowns. "Coruscant? I thought we were done with that place. But I was asking about Anakin."

Leia laughs. "One can never be done with Coruscant. As for Anakin, there is nothing we can do. This is something he is going to have to work through on his own."

"You're the boss."

Leia's head twists to look up at him, incredulity spreading over her features. "Oh, I'm the boss now am I?"

Han gives her his lopsided grin. "Yup, we're not on the _Falcon_, so you can be the boss."

She smiles for him. It is a weak, pain-filled smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Pirate."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"Lord Vader?"

Vader turns to look at the girl following him, his head tilted to the side, his entire bearing asking what she wants. Nelani hesitates, her shy nature coming to the fore, a slight blush cropping up on her cheeks from his scrutiny. She fidgets slightly, looking down as she digs the toe of her boot into the hard packed dirt beneath her.

"Uh, where are we going?"

For a minute the only sound to be heard is his rhythmic breathing. And Nelani begins to question the wisdom of asking what she wanted to know. Then just before she can apologize, he answers. "We're going to a planet called Vjun. To my home there, Bast Castle."

Nelani frowns for a second, and then nods her head as Vader turns around and once more begins walking. Finally they arrive at a clearing and Vader stops at the edge. Nelani steps up beside him, looking around, and then a starship flickers into existence, appearing from nowhere. A seam opens in the large sphere in front of them, the seam expanding as doors slide away. Finally a ramp lowers to a stop right at their feet.

Delight dances in her eyes as she looks up at the ship; a smile traces her lips as she makes a small sound of approval.

She falls into silence once more as they board the ship. For his part, Vader ignores her, and enters a closed room as the hatch behind her shuts. Then with the thrum of the sub-light engines and the press of gravity the ship propels herself from the atmosphere.

Nelani looks around the room, and spying a blast couch walks over to it and collapses. She rubs her legs, massaging the muscles which are beginning to tighten due to the long walk. She glances up at the door, wondering if he is going to stay locked up in there the entire trip or if he'll come talk to her.

As she begins massaging her calf, she considers which scenario she wishes for the most.

Then she remembers Taav, and decides Vader can stay in that room for the entire trip.

As her hands move to her other calf, she hears a door open, and glances back towards the cockpit, watching as Lord Vader steps out. She notices that he doesn't look around, doesn't hesitate, just turns her way and advances towards her. Her desire to flinch back and flee is instinctive, yet she fights against it, and stays sitting there staring at him.

Finally he is there in front of her, towering over her; the only sound is his breathing as he watches her from behind his mask. He reaches down, and presses a single finger to her leg, and she feels the muscles loosen, and calm, as energy floods her. She gasps and looks up at him once more. "How'd you do that?"

She leans back in her seat, looking up at him, her mouth opened, surprised etched on her face as Vader laughs. "The Force is in all things, and can do many things; soothing tired muscles and refreshing you are just two of the many things possible with the Force."

Nelani shakes her head in denial. "But I'm not a Jedi."

Vader finally sits, taking a chair opposite of her. "But you could be, and that is why I brought you with me.

"But, Jedi are hunted by the Vong. And I thought you killed the Jedi."

"Yes, Jedi are hunted by the Vong, and," Vader pauses for a moment, "and that was my grandfather." Vader glances away from her, and stares at a bulkhead for a moment. Then he lowers his head slightly and turns back towards her. "The Vong have hurt my family too much, they killed." He pauses, and for another minute, all that can be heard is his breathing. "I have taken up this, my grandfather's identity, to strike fear into the Vong's hearts, to make them regret coming to our galaxy."

Nelani tilts her head. "I guess I can understand that."

"Good, now let us begin your training."

Vader hands her a cylinder about a third of a meter long. She twists it to the left and right, admiring the smooth, craftsmanship which went into its production, and presses a button on it, gasping as a meter long shaft of azure light spills forth from the weapon.

Vader nods his head. "A lightsaber, the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster, a civilized weapon for a more civilized age."

Nelani looks up from the saber to him. "You're quoting someone."

Vader's laughter once more surprises her. "Yes I am." Then without saying anything else, he turns and walks to a shelf, hunting for something. He finally finds it, and turns back towards her, motioning for her to come closer.

He lets go of the object in her hand, and it begins to float, twisting in the air as its sensors focus on the things around it.

Vader nods to it. "This is a training remote, it fires little darts of energy which sting. Your job is to deflect them with your saber."

Nelani nods her head and raises her saber, as Vader steps away.

She watches the remote, as it whistles and spins. Then the thing darts forwards and she feels the dart as it strikes her thigh. She lets out a short yip of pain, and spins to face the training remote again, tracking the device with her eyes. In the background, she can hear Vader's voice.

"Feel the Force, let it flow through you, let it control you, empower you."

Then the remote darts forward again, and she once more yelps in pain.

"Halt."

She turns towards Vader as he picks up a flight helmet, and walks towards her, putting the helmet over her head and dropping the blast shield.

Nelani looks around in darkness. "I can't see anything."

Though he doesn't laugh, Nelani swears he is doing so again. "Your eyes can deceive you. You need to trust the Force, let it flow through you, clear your mind. Focus on the feel of the weapon, and let your instincts guide you."

In the darkness, Nelani tries to do as he asks, she attempts to still her mind, and focus on the weight of the weapon in her hand. In the dark, with her only companion his rhythmic breathing, ringing loudly in her ears, she has the feeling she should move the blade to cross her body at shoulder height. She does as her feelings tell her and brings the blade up to shoulder height. The moment she stops moving the blade, she can feel a pressure tap against it and then she hears the sound of the dart discharging.

Before she is able to say something, she once more gets the feeling to move the blade, and she does so, dropping it towards her knees. As soon as the blade is there, she feels the pressure once more from catching the dart.

She laughs at the feel of it.

Then the dart strikes her in the stomach, causing her to double over. She lets out a short yelp of pain at the shock of being struck.

"Halt."

The sound of the remote flitting away sounds in her ear, and Nelani shuts down the saber and pulls the helmet off.

She turns and sees the mask staring at her. "You felt it did you not? That silent whisper, telling you what to do, where to place your saber. When you listened, you were helped, and when you didn't, well you were hit."

Nelani nods her head, a smile threatening to break out on her face. "Yes I felt it."

"Good, you've just taken your first step into a wider world." Vader steps closer to her, raising one of his leather clad hands and gripping it into a tightened fist. "One where you and I will be able to destroy the Vong."

Though his words bring a primal, instinctive joy to her, what she considers due punishment for those creatures who have sundered her galaxy with their invasion, due punishment for the animals who killed her mother and father and sisters, she cannot help but feel a small shiver of expectation, or fear, run up her spine.

------------------------------

Three minutes and twenty-two seconds.

That is the length of the holomessage which originated from the Lorrd resistance. There are no words, no sounds, just a short video of a single individual fighting Vong warrior after Vong warrior.

The video does not show where the person clad in black durasteel armor, and wearing a steelweave cape came from, it commences after the battle had already begun.

Yet for all the beauty, and grace, and physical prowess that is evidenced by the fight between the lone native of the galaxy and the multitude of Vong, it is the final scene which garners playtime on billions of connections to the holonet.

It is the final scene which everyone talks about.

Even the fact that that video was the final communication from the underground on Lorrd, the last message to ever come from that world, is lost in the shuffle of excitement and dread that the last scene of that three minute and twenty-two second video creates.

For that last scene reveals the death's head mask of Darth Vader. That three minute and twenty-two second video is the announcement to the galaxy at large that Lord Vader has returned.

-----------------------------------------

Luke presses the damp cloth to Mara's ashen forehead, her grey skin, hanging loose and gaunt on her face. He probes her with the Force, finding the disease spreading rampant throughout her body. He reaches out, and pours energy into her, strengthening her.

A hand is placed on his shoulder, and he glances back, seeing Cilghal standing there.

"Master Skywalker, I fear we may have to take the baby, the strain is killing her."

Luke closes his eyes probing the Force, and when he opens them, finds himself looking into Mara's feverish green ones. She pushes with the Force against him gently and he understands the message as her eyes slowly close once more.

"No. Not yet."

"But Mas-"

"Not yet Cilghal. The Force is clear. If you take the baby now then Mara and the baby will die. I won't let that happen."

Cilghal sighs, and Luke can feel her frustration in the Force. "I understand Master Skywalker. There is something else that Booster thought you should see."

Luke turns away from Mara once more. "What?"

Then Cilghal plays from him the Lorrdian video, and as it finishes she pauses it on the last scene, with Darth Vader's death head's mask staring at them.

"I'm sorry to burden you with this now, but it is playing on all the holonet."

Luke sighs. "It's not my father, I'm not sure who it is, but we need to find out." He scrubs his face with his hands, feeling the stubble that covers his cheeks. Finally he looks at Cilghal once more. "Have Kam contact Ganner and Jacen and have them come here to the _Venture_. We can send them to find out more about this."

Cilghal bobs her head slightly, and leaves the room. Luke watches her go for a moment, feeling the weight of the galaxy once more pressing down upon him. Even as he wonders who it is behind that mask, he fears that he knows exactly who it is.

And if his fears are right, he fears even more what this means for the galaxy.

He wipes Mara's forehead with the cloth again. "I need you to get well Mara. I need you here with me."

-----------------------------------------------------

Nen Yim walks the corridors of the _Baanu Miir_ somewhat randomly. She ignores the multitude of people that wander the halls themselves, the displaced who were shunted from the exterior arms of the _Baanu Miir_ due to a breach in the yorik coral. Brushing past the shamed, the workers and the elderly as she contemplates what it means for her that a Master is here.

"May the _Jeedai _grant us redemption."

The voice is whispered in prayer, barely audible, but Nen Yim understands it perfectly. She spins around, looking for who spoke, but all she sees are shamed, kneeling near a statue of Yun Shuno.

She knows she heard the word _Jeedai_. She steps up to one of the Shamed, and pulls the woman up. Nen Yim slams the woman against the wall. "Who spoke of the _Jeedai_?"

"Not-no-not I."

She presses her Shaper's hand against the Shamed One's temple. "Tell me now."

The Shamed drops her head. "It was I. A story I heard."

Nen Yim drags the woman back to her quarters and pushes her inside; glancing up and down the hallway to ensure no one has seen her. She steps into the room as well, looking down at the shamed cowering on the floor. "Tell me your story."

The woman looks up at her, a surprise flickering across her features. "I heard that the _Jeedai _can redeem the shamed. That there was one _Jeedai _who redeemed a warrior. This _Jeedai _fought alongside the warrior, and the warrior died saluting the _Jeedai_."

Nen looks down at the old woman, her own memories providing the memories of the events she describes.

"Leave these chambers. I never want to see you again."

The woman leaves, and Nen Yim is so wrapped up in her thoughts and memories that she never even notices.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Anakin slides the craft into the hanger, and gently sets her down. He walks through the cabin, sparing a single glance for Nelani, one just long enough to ensure she is following him.

Then he walks down the ramp, and sees the porter droid, and two others standing there. It takes a second, but he then recognizes the short grey-skinned beings. Grinning behind the mask, he steps forward and holds his palm out. "I am Lord Vader, Daughter-Son of your Overlord, Darth Vader. Who stands before me?"

The first Noghri, steps forward, grasping his hand, and pressing it tightly against his nostrils. After smelling it for a minute, the Noghri drops the hand, and takes a step backwards. "I am Ghrikma Clan Harr."

Anakin looks towards the second Noghri. "I am Thrikkes Clan Harr."

"What brings you to Vjun?"

"Lord Vader, forgive us, but we were uncertain who was behind the mask, and were afraid that there was an imposter attempting to do damage to your family."

Anakin nods his head. "And how did you come by the information that someone has taken up the mantle of Lord Vader?"

"It is on the holonet Milord, a video of your battle on the planet Lorrd."

Anakin sighs. "I had hoped that information of my assumption would have been kept a secret for longer, now things are worse. Ghrikma, Thrikkes do you wish to join me in my fight against the Vong?"

Both of the Noghri bow at the waist. "Lord Vader, we are forever in debt to your family and willing to do anything asked of us."

Anakin can feel another smile twist his lips behind the mask, and reaches behind him, dragging Nelani forward. "This is my apprentice Nelani Dinn. Learn her scent as she will be assisting us in destroying the Yuuzhan Vong."

Anakin lets go of her arm, and when she does nothing, grabs it up again, holding it out towards the Noghri. He savors her fear as they approach her hand, and it takes all of his self-control to not laugh at the little shriek she lets out when the first of them, presses his nose against her palm.

-------------------------------

Jaina wakes up to an evacuation alarm, bolting upright, she shivers slightly looking around her room, which had been carved from ice. She straightens her flightsuit and leaves the room, walking calmly towards the hanger. Once she arrives she sees Kyp Durron doing something to her fighter, and feels anger wash through her.

"Durron! What are you doing to my ship?"

Kyp's head pops up and smacks against the transparisteel canopy, and Jaina barks a harsh laugh. He turns around and jumps down. "I was doing your pre-flight inspection. A Vong patrol is in system, and we have to get out of here."

Jaina eyes the rogue Jedi Master warily and then nods her head. Kyp turns from her and lets out a loud whistle.

Once he has everyone's attention he begins to speak. "Okay everyone; we have Vong in-system. We've planted some beacons on an outlier planet so they're currently occupying themselves with that. What we're going to do is launch and run towards the sun. When we're far enough from here we'll break the ecliptic and go to hyperspace. We'll meet up at the rendezvous point. Any questions?"

Kyp looks around, and Jaina feels a mixture of pride and arrogance coming from the older Jedi. After a moment he gives a quick nod of his head.

"Once we're gone, we'll set off some thermal charges, burying this place. If we need it again, we can always return and re-melt in. But for now, be safe and may the Force be with you."

Then his speech done, all the pilots and other personnel go to their respective craft and Jaina turns towards Kyp. "Quite an army you have here Durron."

"These people just want to fight the Vong."

Jaina harrumphs and climbs up into her ship, and finishes the checklist that Kyp had started. She pulls the canopy down and looks over at Kyp who catches her glance and gives her a half-hearted salute. She frowns and turns back to her systems board, and flicks on the com.

There is a crackle and she hears Kyp's voice again. "Okay Dozen, let's punch out of here."

A chorus of affirmatives comes back, and ship after ship begins to launch. When it is her turn, she easily maneuvers her X-wing and leaves the small planetoid behind. There is comm silence as they reach the first point, and everyone but herself and Kyp pull up and away flickering into hyperspace. She glances towards him, and breaks comm. Silence. "Why aren't you going with them?"

"This is more important."

Jaina merely nods her head, and orients her ship towards the core, propelling it into hyperspace.

------------------------------------------------

Nen Yim faces Ch'lor Akkor, her face once more held forcibly immobile. The prefect in charge of the _Baanu Miir_ was in rare form; his face flushed with anger, making the inflamed edges of scar around the nose cavity stand out even more. Yet what annoys Nen Yim the most is the fact that she agrees with everything she knows the prefect is going to say, with everything he said to her yesterday and the day before. With sheer force of will, she wrenches her attention from her own musings to what the prefect is saying.

"Shaper, there has been another explosive decompression in the right arm, and the _maw luur_ backed up, spilling waste material throughout the workers' grashals."

Nen sighs. "I fail to see why you bring these to my attention. That is the domain of the Master Shaper."

Ch'lor growls in frustration. "That doddering old fool doesn't even admit me, and refuses to speak with me. When you were in charge things got fixed, and we need things fixed!"

"I am sorry Prefect, but there is nothing I can do." Part of her despairing at the fact that her hands are bound, and her people on this vessel are doomed, due to the whims of her deranged master.

Outrage and anger crosses the prefect's face. "Nothing? There is nothing you can do?"

"I will speak to the Master; unfortunately I am subject to his whims."

Ch'lor Akkor seems to deflate slightly. "I understand Adept. Thank you for your time."

Nen Yim gives him the barest minimum of salutes required before she retreats once more into her private quarters.

As soon as the door closes, she turns to find Kae Kwaad looking through her private qahsa, outrage and fear fills her. If he has looked throughout that qahsa then he would know the full extent of her heresy.

He would know just how dangerous she is.

She allows coldness to seep into her voice. "Master Kwaad, what are you doing in my private quarters?"

Startled the old man spins around to the sound of the voice, his eyes flickering in their delirium. "Who, what? Who are you?"

"It is I, your Adept, Nen Yim."

The old shaper drops the qahsa and steps closer to her, one dead hand tapping his chin in thought. "Yim, Yim."

As he arrives at her, he backhands her, the dead weight of his hands splitting the skin of her cheek, and she can feel where one of the hand's spines cut through her cheek, stabbing her tongue, and then ripping a line which follows the path which his hand took.

"Use the name I gave you."

Nen Yim's mouth twists into a sneer of disgust and hate as she decides to no longer hide the disgust she feels over the insane Master. "My name is Nen Tsup." As she is speaking, she decides that she will have to kill him.

"Ah, my dirty little Tsup, come, come, it is time to shape!" Then he scampers off through a second door, heading towards the main portion of the Shaper's grashal. Wearily, Nen Yim follows, wondering which mood she would find when she arrived within the grashal.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The _Baanu Rass_ slides into an orbit around the planet Myrkr. On board, a Master Shaper stares down at her browns and greens, and smiles as the _Uumufalh_ class gunship, launches from the planet's surface, bringing to him some specimens.

Yal Paath looks once more into his _Qang Qahsa_, and the genetic template of the _fero xyn_. He nods his head, as he considers that the _Jeedai_ problem will be taken care of once and for all. He places the sensory bundle of the _Qang Qahsa_ into an insect hive, and presses a nerve cluster on the biot. Within seconds, the DNA sequence of the fero xyn floats before him, a version of the same insects which the warriors use to display their battles, show the nucleotides in the traditional double helix. He smiles in the warm glow of the insects.

He inserts his personal qahsa into a secondary slice of the hive to save the modified sequence to, and begins to work. Yanking out unnecessary base pairs, literally removing the lit insects from the DNA sequence.

The admittance pheromone attracts his attention, and he walks to his door-tongue, and presses the nerve cluster beside it. One of his adepts holds out a qahsa to him. "This is the Life Sequence from the vornskrs Master."

The Master Shaper smiles as he takes the qahsa from the adept. "Thank you Adept. Now come and assist me."

He pulls out the _Qang Qahsa_, and plugs the adept's qahsa into the hive. A new set of insects come flitting out, and form another glowing double helix in the air before them.

The Adept leans closer. "I still marvel that when you get so low into the design of life, that our biots and the creatures of this galaxy have so much in common."

Yal Paath nods his head. "That is because we are all formed from Yun Yuuzhan Adept. Everything from the highest of the Elite, to the lowest of the Infidel's pets all share part of Yun Yuuzhan. That is why the life of this galaxy is meant to be shaped by us, meant to serve us and Yun Yuuzhan."

"And this is why we must shape these vonskrys so that we can use them to destroy the _Jeedai_?"

Yal looks at his adept, an approving grin spreading the tatters of his lips.

----------------------------------------------

Ganner Rhysode hunches down in the swaying grass, his eyes scanning the horizon as the latest yorik-trema landing craft crunches down a dozen klicks to the south. He clicks his comlink once, and hears a double-click in response.

Moments later there is a roar flashing overhead, as a squadron of E-wings flash by overhead, almost low enough for Ganner to reach out and run his fingers along their hulls. He allows a smile to cross his features, and jumps out, clicking his comlink two more times. Around him a legion of New Republic Elite Forces take up positions, with their snipers beginning to send blasts of coherent light towards the Vong forces.

The E-wings arrive at the enemy formations and let loose a barrage of proton torpedoes. With a scream, one of the lumbering rakamats dies in the fiery explosion.

Ganner looks out at the advancing Vong forces, a mixture of chazrach and rodian slaves, and holds his ground. Beside him, one of the snipers lets a blast fly, and Ganner smiles as a chazrach flies backward.

A sergeant walks up beside Ganner. "You think they would have an easier way to get up to the battle than running."

Ganner barks a laugh. "One would think that."

With a shriek, a ball of plasma comes rolling in, and lands half a klick south of them, showering them with dirt. The sergeant turns from the advancing line of Vong, and faces Ganner. "You have a message from Master Skywalker, he's asking you to return home."

Ganner looks at the sergeant for a moment. "Did he say when?"

The sergeant shakes his head. "No, but I got the impression he wanted you as soon as possible."

Ganner sighs, and looks towards the battle. "Figures. Just when it was starting to get interesting."

The sergeant laughs. Ganner glances once more at the battle, and then grasps the sergeant's hand. "Be safe Sergeant."

The sergeant nods his head. "You too Jedi Rhysode."

Ganner turns away and strolls away from the battle, heading towards his X-Wing. He slides into the crash seat, and straps his helmet on. As the indicators all turn green, he flips on the comm. "Taanab control, this is Jedi One, I'm launching, please paint me as friendly."

"Copy Jedi One, on your way out, do you think you could do us a favor?"

"What do you need Taanab Control?"

"We have a cruiser analog, taking pot shots at one of our Golan platforms. Do you think you could distract it for us?"

Ganner can feel a smile once more twist his features. "I'll see what I can do as I'm flying past. Jedi One out."

Ganner directs his ship towards atmosphere, and sees the cruiser analog. He twists his X-Wing and lines up his sights on the coral craft. Grinning wider, he receives the tone from his astromech and pulls the trigger, sending two torpedoes towards the enemy vessel.

As soon as the torpedoes have launched, he flicks over to lasers and starts peppering the hull, attracting the dovin basil's attention, drawing attention away from the incoming torpedoes.

Short of the port hull of the cruiser, the gravitic sensors on the torpedoes detect a void, and detonate prematurely. Ganner feels a twinge in the Force, and pushes his craft down as a broadside from the Golan platform comes slicing in, ripping into and through the yorik coral.

He looks down, checking the navicomputer, nodding as he sees it has returned a good course. Glancing one last time at Taanab, he pulls the lever, making the jump to hyperspace.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven **

Jacen stands in the communication chamber of Sanctuary, a holographic image of Kam Solusar flickering in front of him. Silently the young Knight watches the message again.

"Jedi Solo, Master Skywalker has asked that you return to the _Errant Venture_. We have a mission for you. As you may have heard, there is a Force user who has donned the armor of Darth Vader. In case you have not seen it, attached is a video from Lorrd detailing his return. We will see you soon. May the Force be with you."

Then the hologram flickers away, and after a moment a new hologram appears, this one of Darth Vader slaughtering Vong warrior after Vong warrior. Jacen inhales sharply, his breathe a serpentine hiss, and leans in closer to the hologram.

The image of Darth Vader is a powerful one, especially to his family. The specter of that dark figure has haunted his parents' lives for decades. Jacen almost killed his twin sister due to a holographic shroud of that figure.

And Anakin, Anakin has dreamed of becoming Darth Vader for his entire life.

The video ends, and Jacen stares at the empty air where it had been playing. Something about it bothers him. He taps his chin with a finger, and after a moment, restarts the hologram, playing it through to the end.

His frown grows larger.

He fiddles with the controls, setting up the first two minutes of the video to play on a continuous loop, a sickening feeling appearing in his stomach, a cold knot of hurt and disgust, one which grows larger with each loop.

On the fourth repetition, he feels confidant in his thoughts, he knows that he has seen that lightsaber form before.

He knows that he has dueled against the person wielding that lightsaber.

Even though the blue of the hologram washes away the colors, he has no doubts that the color of that lightsaber blade is purple.

He despairs at what it means for his family, his brother, if his fears are true. If that blade is purple.

He hears a gasp from behind him, and turns to see his mother standing there. He allows a sheepish grin to come to his face. "Hey mom."

She walks closer to him, her eyes never leaving the video. "Someone is running around as Vader?"

Jacen nods his head, trying to bury the sick feeling and his opinion on the man behind the mask, beneath his shields. "Apparently. I think Uncle Luke is going to assign me to find out who it is."

Leia turns to Jacen her head cocked to the side slightly as she watches her eldest son. Jacen turns towards her, keeping his face impassive, pushing down his feelings deeper behind a wall, not wanting to hurt her with his suspicions.

His mother is too perceptive. "What do you know about this Jacen."

Jacen flinches slightly. "I don't know anything. Did you hear about Yag'dhul?"

A raised eyebrow, and Jacen is once more under the gaze of The Look. He sighs again, knowing that he can not fail to tell her the truth after receiving The Look. It is the same expression she would turn on generals and other politicians, and they would tell her whatever she wished to know.

He turns back towards the hologram as it repeats the slaughter of the Vong warriors again and again, and feels his mother staring at the back of his head.

He turns back towards her, finding her arms crossed over her chest, The Look dangerously close to becoming The Glare. He closes his eyes and exhales slowly, wondering for the millionth time how someone so short can be so intimidating.

Her voice intrudes upon the darkness behind his eyelids. "Tell me Jacen."

He opens his eyes even as he lowers his head slightly, and slows the video. "See this riposte, and how it follows through with a lunge."

"Yes."

"Now watch, his next move will be to jump over the attack, then duck, and stab upward into the underarm."

He turns to Leia, his eyes filled with sorrow and pain, as she nods her head, watching Vader perform the moves which Jacen laid out. "I see it, but I still don't understand."

Jacen's mouth twists down into a frown, still not wanting to give voice to his thoughts on the matter. "I've seen those moves before; I've seen this fighting style." Jacen hesitates a moment. "I've dueled against him."

A quirk of an eyebrow. "So this Vader is one of the Jedi."

Jacen nods his head, and looks down at his hands, refusing to meet his mother's eyes.

"But who? Who would use Vader's arm…Oh." She looks back towards the video, her eyes widening in understanding, filling with pain of their own.

She sees what Jacen had seen, and Jacen has to grab her fast as she begins to collapse to her knees.

"Oh. Oh no. No, not him. It couldn't be."

------------------------------------------------------

Anakin steps from the forest, the light of Garqi's moon plenty for him to see by. His respirator is off, the rhythmic sound silent for his approach on the slave training facility. His eyes scan the horizon, hunting for Vong atmospheric fighters. Seeing none, he creeps forward, Ghrikma and Thrikkes on either side of him, as silent and deadly as any of the Noghri.

He grins as a contingent of Chazrach march past at a trot. Night-time runs. He glances to the right towards Ghrikma, and raises a hand, pointing to a shell-shaped structure. Ghrikma nods his head, and fades into the night. Anakin turns towards Thrikkes, and nods his head. Together they advance forwards, heading towards the grashals strewn around the remains of the capital of Garqi.

In silence they plant the detonators around the various buildings, working fast, before the next training contingent comes jogging by and is able to see them.

Anakin plants the last detonator, and retreats back to the treeline. He kneels by the tree, as Ghrikma and Thrikkes fade in from the jungle on either side of him. He glances at each, receiving a quick nod of their heads.

Smiling behind his mask, he pulls out a small cylinder, and flips up a safety-catch on it. As he watches the buildings, he presses the button, and a red light comes on the device, as every building erupts into flames.

Through the lambent he is able to feel dozens of Yuuzhan Vong lives being snuffed out.

Through the Force he feels thousands of Chazrach's dying.

His grin stretches the healing burns on his face even wider.

"And now it's time for the Vong to see me, so that they can fear."

He glances at either noghri, and finds they have once more disappeared, off to perform their tasks without waiting command. He nods approvingly as he stands.

A flick of a switch on the chest plate, and the rhythmic breathing starts once more. He steps out of the tree line, standing in the middle of the footpath used by the training soldiers. A thud bug flies at him from out of the dark, and Anakin ignites his saber, batting the thing away.

Those arrayed against him come forward, a company of the Chazrach foot soldiers, in their hands holding the stiffened amphistaffs subspecies bred for them. He grins as flashes of red come from the dark woods, vaporizing large chunks of the reptiles.

As the remaining chazrach surround him, he lifts his saber and attacks. He slices through them, devastating their numbers. Minutes later, he is surrounded by dead Chazrach, and Anakin once more takes up his position of waiting and watching for the next group of enemies.

As the sun crests the horizon signaling dawn, Anakin gets a prompt from Nelani through the Force. He flicks his comlink on. "Nelani."

"Yes Master?"

"It is time."

The comlink clicks off, and a few minutes later Nelani comes walking out of the forest. She is dressed in a black jumpsuit, custom fitted for her. As she comes to a stop in front of Anakin, she rests her left hand on the grip to her blaster.

In her right hand is her other blaster, poking in the back of the Shamed One she has led from the woods.

The vong drops to his knees. "Are you a _Jeedai_?"

Anakin looks down at him. "Yes."

An expression which Anakin can only define as ecstasy crosses the Vong's face. "At last I get to meet you! I have heard that the _Jeedai_ are the hope for the shamed. Is this true?"

"Define hope."

"The story is that a _Jeedai_ redeemed a shamed warrior. That Vua Rapuung fought side by side with him, saluting the _Jeedai _as he died. Is this true?"

Anakin nods his head. "Yes, this is truth."

"Then you can heal me of the affliction which destroys my body!"

Anakin looks his body over, noticing he lacks the usual implants and scars of the Yuuzhan Vong. "Your body refuses escalation implants?"

The shamed nods his head. "Yes, plus the inks for tattoos burns my flesh, causing boils."

"What is your name?"

"I am called Lu'ath Raptoq."

Anakin places his hand on the shamed one's shoulder. "Lu'ath, I shall tell you this once. There is no shame in not being modified in such a manner. Your leaders tell you that there is, merely as a means to control you. For every warrior there are a hundred shamed. For every shaper a thousand and for every priest a million shamed. This false belief of shame and disgrace is the only way they can keep you subjugated."

The Shamed One looks at Anakin with a mixture of awe and fear. Anakin leans his mask closer to the Shamed. "If you want redemption, then rebel. Wrest the redemption and the power from those who keep you under their heel."

------------------------------------------

"No!" The old shaper's shriek causes Nen Yim to jump slightly, startled from her work, she looks up to see Kae Kwaad staring at the newly hatched grutchins.

She turns and takes a step towards him. "Master?"

The Master looks up at her, the dementia flashing brightly in his eyes. "They're imperfect! Ruined! Someone is out to destroy me! If only the other Masters had restored my hands!"

"I do not understand Master."

"The grutchins; they are imperfect. Failures!" He glances down into the hatchery and sneers. "Destroy this batch, and kill one of the initiates. I will not tolerate such failure."

"Yes Master."

Kae strikes her, spinning her around to the ground. She lifts herself up, aiming an angry glare at the back of the deranged master.

She watches as the disturbed creature leaves the room, her face twisting into a hate-filled sneer. After a moment, she walks to the grutchin hatchery, and looks down, a plan formulating in her mind. Considering the implications, she walks over to a wall, and pressing against a nerve cluser which causes a seam to appear, and a section folds away. She reaches into the opened space and pulls out a small animal. It chirps slightly in her hand as she scratches its head. Then she returns to the hatchery, and drops it in, smiling as the illac proceeds to devour all the infant grutchins.

Her grin turns feral, as she imagines Kae Kwaad's face on each grutchin as it is consumed by the illac.

As the final animal is consumed, Nen Yim returns to her work of trying to find a solution to the dying ship brain. The moment she has once more become enthralled in her experiment, she hears Kae's voice behind her.

"Nen Tsup! Come here!"

Suppressing a sigh, Nen Yim turns and faces the Master Shaper. "Yes Master."

"We shall once more attempt to create the perfect grutchin."

"Yes Master. If I may ask a question?"

He gives her an odd look. "Ask your question."

"Why exactly did you not have your hands replaced?"

A frown crosses his face. "The other masters, they fear me, they refused to replace my hands."

Nen Yim allows a smile to cross her face as she thinks of a plan. "I could shape them new ones for you."

Kae sneers at her. "You are not a Master! Only a Master can shape master hands."

Nen Yim nods her head. "I could be your hands."

Kae pulls back away from her. "Create the grutchins as I have ordered Adept."

Nen Yim trembles in anger, but merely nods her head. "I obey Master."

-----------------------------------------

Anakin watches Nelani as she twists and turns, her saber deflecting the small darts from the seven remotes surrounding her. He allows a smile to twist his lips as he watches her. He has always been drawn to a woman training with the lightsaber; there is something so graceful and deadly about it which attracts him; draws him in.

The movement. The dance.

He reaches out with the Force, feeling how it flows around and through his apprentice and nods his head in approval. She is progressing perfectly, and he thinks she will soon be ready to create her own weapon.

Still smiling, he steps out into the training room, igniting his saber.

The snap-hiss attracts her attention, and she looks towards him as she orders the remotes to halt her training exercise.

He walks closer to her. "It is time for you to begin training against opponents other than training remotes."

She gives a short bow of the head. "Yes, Master"

Then Anakin strikes. A fast, one-handed strike aimed at her shoulder, which she carefully blocks.

She goes on the offensive, a series of wild strikes, which Anakin easily bats away, noting where she needs to improve, and where her performance is adequate.

He falls back, as her attacks become wilder and less controlled.

Then with a high vertical slice which he ducks under, he steps into her inner ring and grabs her sword arm with his hand, and places his saber next to her neck. He sees the fear appear in her eyes and he savors its taste in the Force.

"You must learn control. Your strikes are wild and uncontrolled. That makes you dead."

He extinguishes his saber, and spins her around, dumping her to the floor. She looks up at him, anger replacing the fear.

She quickly stands and attacks once more, her blade flickering to the left and right as Anakin once more falls back, easily deflecting her blows and trying his best to not laugh.

He parries one blow, and sends her saber flying, and then quickly steps in close, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the wall, pinning her there.

"Anger is good, it gives you power, but letting it control you, that makes you wild, and when you lose control of your anger, of yourself, you lose control of your weapon. That makes you dead."

He lets her go, and she crumples to the floor, her chest heaving form exertions and the need to breath as she rubs her throat where the precursor to bruises are.

He calls the saber to his hand, staring down at the familiar weapon for a moment. The weapon that the love of his life built, Tahiri's lightsaber. He can feel that black knot of hate and rage erupts through him once more, at the unfairness of her being ripped away from him.

He takes a deep breath, pushing the hate, anger and grief to the back of his mind.

Then he looks down at Nelani. "Tomorrow we're going to Yavin 4; it is time for you to create your own lightsaber." He hands her a datachit. "Gather these materials. We leave at dawn."

He turns from her and leaves the room, taking Tahiri's lightsaber with him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight **

Tsavong Lah dismisses the prefect before him, and rubs his eyes. He despises this time of day, having to deal with the administrative duties of leading the giant war machine of the Yuuzhan Vong. The internecine squabbling and bickering of various castes and domains is enough to wish he had sacrificed his ears decades ago.

He glances at the qahsa set beside him, and realizes that he only has a single audience left. He signals the guard at the door, who disappears outside of it for a moment. He exhales slowly, hoping that this audience will be swift.

The warrior returns, followed by a priestess of the deception sect. She bows, her living smock twisting around her. "Thank you for seeing me Warmaster."

"What do you require of me, Priestess?"

"There was a Priestess of the Deceoption Sect, one Elan who was sent into the Infidels in an attempt to destroy the Jeedai."

Tsavong nods his head. "I remember."

"She had a familiar. It has returned to us, claiming to know a great many things about the Infidels."

"I fail to see what this has to do with me."

"She claims that she can only speak her secrets to you."

Tsavong Lah strokes his chin, staring at the priestess for a full minute. Finally he nods his head. "Have her purified, and then I will see her."

The priestess bows, and retreats from the chamber.

Two days later, the purification is done. He stands outside her small cell, and stares at the toolith, which monitors the interior of the cell, providing audio and visual feed from within. He frowns at what he sees. The familiar, Vergere, sits on reverse-articulated legs, her large dark eyes staring at the wall in front of her. She has neither smile nor frown on her face. Perfectly immobile, neither asleep nor truly awake, she waits.

Finally he decides there is nothing else to do but talk to her. He presses a nerve cluster and the door rolls away. Confidently he walks into the cell, and looks down at the small avian creature which bows itself in submission.

"I am Tsavong Lah; tell me what you know of the infidel _Jeedai_ . . . especially Jacen Solo."

Vergere's head cocks to the side, as she looks up at the large warrior, her eyes dark and penetrating. After a moment, she bobs her head. "I shall obey."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Jacen Solo and Ganner Rhysode eye each other warily. Neither of these two Jedi truly likes the other, and both are wondering why they have been summoned to see Luke Skywalker in the med center of the _Errant Venture_.

After a moment, a haggard looking Valin Horn steps out, and looks at the two older Knights. "The Master is ready for you now."

They follow Valin back into the room, and Luke looks up from his wife. Jacen, upon seeing her ashen form, gasps aloud. Luke looks between Jacen and Mara before nodding his head.

"Yes, the disease has come back stronger."

"The baby?"

"Currently the baby is fine. Mara is pouring most of her energy into ensuring that."

Sadness rolls across and from Jacen. "I'm sorry Uncle Luke."

"Thank you Jacen, but that is not why I asked the two of you to come here. By now you both should have seen the video of this new Darth Vader."

Jacen and Ganner give matching affirmatives.

"Good. Your task is simple, find out who is behind that mask, and do whatever is necessary to stop him."

Jacen looks down at the floor, scuffing his boot against the durasteel deck. "Master, I think I know who it is."

Both Ganner and Luke look at him. "Who?"

"Anakin."

Jacen can feel the roll of shock that comes from the two, and sighs.

"Jacen, I know the two of you have had your disagreements, but certainly you don't think he has fallen to the Dark Side."

Jacen looks towards his uncle. "Fallen or not, I don't know, but I do know that he is close to it, his Force presence is coated in pain, misery and darkness, and he has been gone since before this new Vader appeared."

Luke rubs his face with his hands, feeling the beginning of a headache appearing. "I want proof, Jacen."

Jacen bows slightly, "Yes, Uncle Luke."

"Good. This is important. The Jedi don't need another public relations disaster. If the public thinks we're all starting to turn into Darth Vaders, more of us will be turned over to the Vong."

Luke glances back at his wife, and then turns once more to Jacen and Ganner. "Be safe out there. May the Force be with you."

Then he turns from them, taking up his vigil beside Mara once more. Jacen and Ganner share a look, and then turn from the room, going to the hanger to begin their mission.

-------------------------------------------------------

P'kar Slooth stands once more in the midst of devastation. Surrounding him are the bodies of a legion of Chazrach. He looks down at the reptilian animals the Yuuzhan Vong use for shock troops, a sneer on his face. Lifting his eyes, he glances out towards the grashals and damutaks which once dotted the city around the training fields here.

In their place are the still smoking pieces of shell, the shattered remains of Yuuzhan Vong biot-buildings. Some of the pieces are big enough to hide a warrior behind, but most are just chunks of coral, no longer than his arm.

Out beyond the broken remains of the training camp, are the training fields themselves. Battered and scared infidel buildings. Their very presence an affront to him, yet he understands the necessity as the warriors and Chazrach need to be trained.

He once more looks around the devastated landscape, seeing the ten warriors sent with him to find out what happened. Even now, they are walking among the ruins, searching for someone who the gods have not yet claimed.

P'kar sighs, as he considers the fact that not even the Shamed were spared this time. What manner of _Jeedai_ is this that he walks through warriors and legions of shock troops, as if they were nothing but the lowliest shamed infants?

A Subaltern walks towards him, bearing an inverted villip. P'kar lifts the creature, and sees the head of his second in command T'Io Slooth.

"Report."

"The Yammosk reports that there has been no Infidels arriving or leaving. The same as what happened on Lorrd. Whoever did this just appeared, and then disappeared."

P'kar mutters a curse. "Keep looking. The Infidel could still be here in system."

"I obey, Commander."

The villip reverts back to a leathery ball, and P'kar passes it off to the Subaltern, and once more starts walking around the corpses of Chazrach.

A yell from one of his warriors attracts his attention, and he turns that way. He sees the warrior laying on the ground, at the edge of the training fields, a blackend, single-story structure a backdrop for whatever has happened. P'Kar walks that way, standing over the warrior on the ground. The warrior is bleeding from the temple and P'Kar notices a large rock nearby, a splatter of black Yuuzhan Vong blood on it. He looks up, at the buildings which surround him, a frown rippling the tatters of his lips.

A war cry echoes around him, as rocks begin to fly from the buildings. Then someone steps to the ledge. A Shamed One, his face darkened, painted into a death's head mask. In his hand he holds a metal sword, with electrical discharge running up and down it, lending it a blue glow. An abomination, which the infidels call a vibrosword.

The Shamed One hefts the sword high. "For redemption! For the _Jeedai_!"

His cry is joined in by a host of others, as Shamed come pouring out of the surrounding buildings, rushing P'kar and his warriors, as they brandish infidel weapons.

P'kar allows his amphistaff to slide down his arm, hardening into cutting form, and rushes towards the advancing line of shamed.

A bright flash of red overrides his vision, and agony sears through his body, as he finds himself flying through the air.

He crashes onto the ground, and his head lolls to the side, where he can see the stump which used to be his shoulder.

He struggles to stand, and a shamed pushes him back to the ground with his foot. P'kar looks up at the Shamed One, who stands over him, sees the smile on the unblemished face.

Then with another flash of red, P'kar ceases to exist.

-------------------------------------------------------

Nelani sits beside Vader's dark form; the rhythmic breathing has become soothing to her over the course of their travels and training.

She watches him from the corner of her eye, a ghost of a smile on her lips, as she considers her master, her mentor. He is quick to anger, and hates the Vong with a passion beyond belief, yet despite the darkness she can feel clinging to him through the Force, she knows that deep down there is a solid core of humanity.

Even though he is draped in darkness both literally and figuratively, she recognizes within him a light, a state of being a hero. She can see it in him, even if he is unable to do so.

And she wonders if she is falling in love with him. Casting her thoughts back, she remembers the rare words of praise, and how they made her feel, the even rarer quip or joke, which would cause her to laugh or giggle.

Turning her attention back to the console in front of her, she notices they only have a few minutes before reversion.

"Nelani."

Nelani jumps slightly, not used to Vader speaking to her on trips. "Yes, Master?"

"You will pilot the craft and land at the coordinates set into the system. Be wary for any potential Vong craft, as the last time I was here, this system was in their hands."

Nelani can feel a smile come to her lips. She does not often fly, but it is one of the skills that he has been teaching her. She reaches for the controls, and as the counter hits zero, drops the ship back into real space. As they swing around the orange curve which is Yavin, and come into view of the green orb that is the fourth moon, she can feel a wave of pain from Vader.

She glances at him, but he remains perfectly still. She sighs, once more wishing that he would take off the mask when around her, so she could see his features; that she would have just that little extra visual clue on what he is feeling, above and beyond what she can glean from the Force.

She lands the craft, and turns towards him, noting that he is still radiating pain through the Force. Noticing that he is staring out the viewport, she looks that way and sees a dying Yuuzhan Vong building; she decides to risk a question.

"Is something wrong Master?"

He looks from the building to her. "Just the past."

Nelani leans back in her seat glancing towards him. "Would you," she pauses, and looks out onto the verdant world before continuing, "would you care to talk about it?"

He lifts his saber, turning his attention from her to it. "I was pretty much raised here. Where that damutek is, there used to be a Massasi Temple. It housed the Jedi Praxeum. There was a girl here when I was growing up." He glances at her for a moment. "Her name was Tahiri . . . you would have liked her."

"What happened?"

"The Vong shaped her. And then the Peace Brigade killed her. They blew up the building she was in, while making me watch."

She reaches out and places her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry."

He looks down at her hand, briefly touching it with one of his own, before knocking it away. Standing he leaves the cockpit, calling out over his shoulder, "Come, there is much to do. And we are still in enemy territory."

Nelani can feel her heart drop. She has to remember to control her compassion around him. "Yes, Master."

She follows him off the ship, and around the damutek, coming upon a field of odd looking plants. She can feel a wave of satisfaction come off Lord Vader. "Good, I had hoped they would leave some, and it appears we are in time for harvest."

Nelani looks at the plants, confused. She can feel the beginnings of a mild headache, a low drone in the back of her head. She looks around again, and sees Vader kneeling beside a plant. "Master?"

"Come over here, and kneel beside this one."

Nelani does so. He hands her a small knife, and picks up a bulb from the plant in front of him.

"Now, run your hands down the bulb like this - this attunes the lambent to you. If you're doing it right, you'll hear a noise in your head.

Nelani does as he commands, and the low drone spikes into a crystal song for a second. Then Vader's voice intrudes again.

"Now cut open the husk, being careful not to damage the lambent within."

She carefully slices away the husk, ignoring the milk-like substance that pours over her hands. Gasping in surprise at the crystal which falls out, she looks towards Vader. "What is it?"

A wave of amusement rolls off of him. "It is called a lambent. The Yuuzhan Vong use them for light sources and control mechanisms. You're going to use it for a lightsaber crystal."

"Master? But it's a plant."

"It's a living crystal which the plant produces. They are perfect for lightsabers, and in fact it is the type of crystal I use in mine."

Anakin gestures towards the crystal in her hand. "Think to your lambent, ask it to come on, and turn off."

Nelani looks down at the lambent, reaching out to it, commanding it to shine.

She gasps as it emits a bright, shining white light.

She commands it to dim and its glow dims until it is no longer visible in the daylight. She looks up at Vader, an amazed smile on her face. "That's amazing."

Vader stands up, motioning for Nelani to follow as he walks them back to their ship. Once they arrive, he hands her the box of pieces which she had gathered and the instructions on how to build the weapon.

"Take your time, meditate. This will be your weapon, and a symbol of your status as a Jedi. We are under no pressure here, and you need to work as long as necessary. I warn you; on occasion there will be visions during the construction of a lightsaber, that is fine. You may lose time during its construction, that is fine. The important thing is that the blade becomes a part of you, an extension of yourself and your will."

Nelani looks at him for a moment. "I understand, Master."

"Good, now go build your saber."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Jaina Solo, Gavin Darklighter and Kyp Durron stand underneath a pavilion. Jaina looks around, seeing merely a grassy field as far as the eye can see, interrupted only by the grey speeder belonging to Gavin, and the two smaller brown speeder bikes which were piloted by Jaina and Kyp.

A few minutes later, another speeder pulls up, and General Wedge Antilles gets out. He nods his head, and returns Jaina's and Gavin's salutes. Then he turns towards Kyp and his hand drops to his blaster.

"There better be a very good excuse for him to be here."

Jaina speaks up. "Sorry sir, but it's his intelligence we're bringing to you."

Wedge frowns at her. "Are you sure it's worth anything? And why wasn't I told he would be here."

Gavin takes a step forward. "I thought it worthwhile, and it was my idea not to tell you he would be here."

Wedge looks between the two of them, and then turns on Kyp. "I don't like you Durron, just sit over there, and don't talk to me."

Kyp opens his mouth to reply, but a quick kick from Jaina shuts him up. He looks down at her, and sees her staring up at him, a scowl clearly covering her face, telling him in no uncertain terms he should do this. He retreats to the corner indicated by Wedge and leans against a post, his arms crossed over his chest, as he continues to stare at Jaina.

Wedge glares at him for a moment more, and then turns to Gavin. "What's so important that I had to come all the way out here?"

Gavin silently hands him a datapad. Wedge frowns, and plays the video, his face slowly losing color.

He looks between the two of them. "Is this real?"

Gavin nods his head. "As near as we can tell. You may recall that Rogue Squadron went through the system months ago, and we saw something strange then; I have to assume it was that thing in an early stage. We told them we needed to go in again, and either figure out what it was or destroy it. But the Senate refused."

Wedge nods his head. "I remember that report." He rubs at his chin, a thoughtful look on his face. "We'll need more firepower than I can provide as a retired fleet officer. Let's take this to Admiral Kre'fey."

Wedge sighs, as he considers the various implications involved. Then he glances between Jaina and Gavin. "You two, stay here on planet and keep Durron here with you, or better yet, send him back to whatever rock he was hiding on. I'll contact Kre'fey and have him come here to us."

Wedge and Jaina salute, as Wedge turns around and gets back into his speeder. After a moment, Gavin turns towards Jaina. "I'll heading back into town now, I have a few more things I will need to do before the Admiral arrives. I'll contact you when Wedge gets in touch with me."

Jaina salutes once more. Then she watches as both speeders disappear into the distance, and slowly turns towards Kyp. She fights back the urge to smack the smirk from his face.

As if reading her thoughts, his smirk grows slightly larger.

"So, while we're waiting, shall we spar?"

Her eyebrow quirks and a grin threaten the corners of her mouth. "A reason to beat on you? I'd love to."

Kyp laughs and slips out of his cloak as he walks down the steps of the pagoda, followed closely by Jaina.

-----------------------------------------

Yal Paath genuflects to the villip as it assumes the shape of the Warmaster Tsavong Lah. He straightens.

"Warmaster, to what do I have this honor?"

"I enquire after your project. I grow tired of these _Jeedai_ running around. A lone one destroyed our garrison on Lorrd, and then showed up a third of a klekket later and defiled the coral skipper nurseries on Belkadan."

"I understand Warmaster, and we are nearing completion of a prototype, yet we have not produced within it reproductive capabilities."

Tsavong snarls. "Then clone it. I want the _Jeedai_ taken care of."

Yal Paath genuflects once more. "I obey Warmaster. If it may be possible to transport some _Jeedai_ here for live trials against the creature, it would be most helpful."

The warmaster nods his head. "I will see to it that we bring you some _Jeedai_ for your trials."

Yal bows his head once again. "Thank you Warmaster."

As he straightens once more, he watches as the villip folds in on itself, hiding the visage of the Warmaster. Yal sighs, and then returns to his work, he opens his personal qahsa, and continues taking notes on which changes he believes are necessary to create the next generation of v_oxyn_ as an even deadlier animal.

As he works, he sneers in disgust at himself, at the taint of heresy which his machinations of the shaper protocols reek of. Yet he knows that without those minute changes, without those minor modifications to the protocols, his project would have failed.

And he would have been executed for his failure, his entire domain shamed.

He is no better than Mezhan Kwaad, is the thought that has ran through his mind for the past klekket.

He nods his head, knowing that once he has the _voxyn_ perfected he will destroy this qahsa, destroy the proof of his heresy, even if it means that the queen will never be able to be recreated. He smiles as he makes the final genetic modification, and then plugs his qahsa into the v_ir'atok_, the creature which reads a genetic blueprint from a qahsa and produces a live organism.

He sets that to perform its task, and goes to find Ch'roka Toh, the prefect in charge of _Baanu Raas_.

Yal finds the prefect in the control center. "Ch'roka."

The prefect turns as Yal calls his name, and upon seeing the Master Shaper walks to him. "What can I do for you, Master Shaper?"

"Are the training grounds prepared?"

"Yes. But I must again reiterate that I do not like having that infidel trash and heresies on my worldship."

"Good, we should have the first of our _voxyn_ ready to run the grounds within two days. Also, the Warmaster will be sending us _Jeedai_ slaves to test the _voxyn_ against. As for the heresies, they are a necessary evil if we are to train the voxyn to hunt _Jeedai_."

The prefect bows. "Very well Master Shaper. Thank you for keeping me informed, most especially when I will be able to remove those mechanical abominations from the _Baanu Raas_."

The shaper turns and leaves, going once more to his work and his hidden heresy.

---------------------------------------------

The Warmaster and Vergere sit around the dejarik table. Unlike most dejarik tables, this one is a living creature. The other difference between other dejarik tables and this one is the fact that the creatures standing upon it are not holograms, but rather small live animals, custom designed for the Warmaster to play this game with his new familiar.

Tsavong Lah looks up from the remaining creatures as they face off against each other on the board. "This is a _Jeedai_ game?"

Vergere bobs her head in affirmation. "Yes Warmaster. It originated within the _Jeedai_, but that was many centuries ago. Today it is treated as a great strategy game."

As she is talking she moves her Ng'ok and has it kill Tsavong's K'lor'slug, placing her in a position to win the round.

Tsavong sends his Grimtaash after her Ghhhk. "So tell me what you believe the Infidel's next move shall be?"

Verger directs her Monnok into the center of the board, winning the round. She looks up at the warmaster from the table. "They will continue to collapse back towards the core, and once you have taken Coruscant they will scatter to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, performing rearguard and pirate actions until the Elite have shown them the True Way."

"I have told you of the _Baanu Raas_ Shaper project, and their request for _Jeedai_. What is your thoughts on this."

Vergere bobs her head for a moment. "I would suggest capturing and sending this _Jeedai_ in dark armor which terrifies intendents so. He has been a thorn in the Twv'ke's paw since he appeared on Lorrd."

The warmaster's smile is dark and feral. "I like that idea little familiar."

Tsavong Lah stands up and walks away, leaving Vergere sitting on her Vurruk covered mat, her dark, avian eyes staring after him.

----------------------------------------------------

Jakan sits in meditative repose, his coufee in one hand idly slicing circles upon his chest, as he ponders the great mysteries of Yun Yuuzhan.

He is the High Priest of the Yuuzhan Vong. Outside of the Supreme Overlord he is the being closest to the gods. It is his responsibility to ensure that the populace is keeping the faith, and staying far away from heresy.

It is literally his life on the line on that fact.

Of course, Jakan is a true believer. He is zealous in his protection of the faith, sincere in his belief that the True Way is the only way, and that followers of any other path must be sacrificed to the gods.

He lifts the coufee and places the point beneath his eye, slowly drawing it down.

There is a sickness among the Yuuzhan Vong. He knows this. He can feel this.

He hears the tinkle of kolot beetles, and opens his eyes to see the priest in charge of the Deception Sect, the highest follower of Yun Txun. He is dressed in his robes of office, a floor-length skinrobe, with purple vessels adorning it. The kolot beetles are attached along the bottom, making their noises with every step of the priest.

Jakan smiles up at him. "I hope you bring me good news Harrar."

Harrar keeps his face impassive. "I bring news. We had a Yoric-Vec searching for clues as to what that black-clad _Jeedai_ was doing, the one who destroyed the garrison on Lorrd."

Jakan nods his head. "I understand."

"We lost contact with them. Our last reports were they had went to Garqi. We sent more warriors, and this is what was found."

He holds out a qahsa, which Jakan takes. He presses the activator nerve, and a Yuuzhan Vong script appears. Without realizing, Jakan reads it aloud.

"There is no shame in the lack of implants. There is no shame in hiding from pain. The shame is from the Elite who use us to do what they will not. The shame is upon the Elite for glorying while they force us to suffer. The _Jeedai_ has shown us the way. For honor, we shall overcome. For honor, we shall rebel. For redemption. For the _Jeedai_."

Horror flashes in his eyes as he looks up at Harrar. "Who else knows of this heresy?"

"None as of yet. The warriors who found and saw this have been silenced."

"See to it, that it remains that way." He sighs wearily and uses his hand to smear the blood from the cut on his cheek. "I must take this to Lord Shimmra."

Harrar bows, and turns away. He leaves to the tinkle of the kolot beetles.

----------------------------------------------------

The Ilk'atko flies through the space between Nen Yim's face and her qahsa. It slams against a nearby wall and splatters, showering Nen with sticky, warm goo. She lifts her attention from the qahsa in front of her towards the being who threw it at her. She suppresses a sigh.

"May I assist you Master Shaper?"

The old shaper hobbles towards her, holding the _Qang Qahsa_. He throws it to her, and she deftly catches it, looking from the sum of shaping knowledge towards her insane master.

He steps closer, and pokes her with one of his dead hands. "You will create me a new pair of Master's hands."

Nen Yim suppresses a smile. "I obey Master."

Then Kae Kwaad spins and leaves the room. He leaves Nen Yim with a fully accessible _Qang Qahsa_.

She allows a smile to come to her face. Sitting the _Qang Qahsa_ on the work surface before her, she accesses its data, plunging into the neural interface.

There is the Sixth Cortex, and the Master's Hands and the dovin basils. She bypasses both, having no intention of creating hands for the insane shaper. With a flick of a mental switch, the Sixth Cortex fades away, to be replaced by the Seventh.

She smiles at the mind awing design of the worldships, and their brains. As she touches that knowledge, it rolls itself out for her, showing her holistically how the brain and worldship work together, how they're assembled, and the potential for repair and regeneration. A lot of this knowledge she has gleaned for herself, but having it displayed this way, in its entireity, is instructive, as it shows her where her assumptions failed, and to her surprise, where her thoughts were better suited for the purpose. She frowns at that, pondering the meanings of it. Shaking away her musings she turns once more to the knowledge before her, seeking a way of regeneration for the brain.

A deep sense of failure settles over her as she realizes that there is no way to save the _Baanu Miir_.

She despairs.

Could this be all the knowledge of the Yuuzhan Vong? Could this be all that is available to the shapers? The dead and useless knowledge of millennia ago. Has nothing new been added to the _Qang Qahsa_ since they have left their home galaxy?

These thoughts and more rush through Nen Yim's mind as she considers the end of Yuuzhan Vong knowledge.

Then she realizes that there has to be more. There have been new weapons and new protocols handed down from the Supreme Overlord throughout the invasion. There must be additional information, other protocols within the _Qang Qahsa._

She presses the _Qang Qahsa_, and it flickers, the Seventh Cortex falling away.

A deep, masculine voice booms through her consciousness, the _Qang Qahsa_ has noticed her, its ancient intelligence awakened, by her probes.

"Go back."

Hope flairs within her again. There should be nothing beyond the Seventh Cortex, yet the _Qang Qahsa_ protects something.

She presses again, and pain shoots through her, a fire ripping through her mind, as the _Qang Qahsa_'s voice booms yet again. "Go back. There is nothing for you here. You are not allowed."

The fire in her mind redoubles, and she screams out. "I am Nen Yim of the Yuuzhan Vong! Grant me access!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Nelani can feel frustration surge through her. She has been trying to assemble her lightsaber for over a week now. The mechanical components fit perfectly together, and the slot designed for the focusing crystal is the perfect size for the lambent.

Yet once assembled, it fails to actually work.

She has disassembled and reassembled it four times, and each time the saber refused to charge, refused to emit that beam of coherent light. When she tries to season the weapon with the Force, it flows through the mechanical aspects and bypasses the lambent entirely.

She can feel the lambent whispering its song in her mind, but not the Force, and she can feel the pieces of the saber in the Force.

But when she tries to sense the saber as a whole, she fails.

She leans back in her chair, thinking of the lessons Lord Vader had given her on saber construction. As she closes her eyes, meditating she can almost hear his deep mechanical voice.

"_The lightsaber as a weapon is greater than the sum of its parts. In the hands of a trained Force user, it becomes an extension of that Jedi's will, and abilities. It becomes as much a part of you as your hand or foot."_

She suddenly leans forward in her chair, a small smile coming to her lips. The Vong biot can't be felt in the Force, but she can hear it. The other components she can't hear, but can feel in the Force.

Then she has an epiphany. She understands the problem. Her lips twist into a full smile, and she almost laughs out loud. The connection between the two is within her, not within the physical parts of her saber. She is the joining agent between the inanimate materials, and the Vong biot.

The smile still pasted to her lips, she begins assembling the pieces once more. Once all the parts are in place, she reaches out with the Force, bathing the saber within the warm accepting glow which is the Force; she opens herself up to it, drawing it around her, to her.

She flicks the switch to begin recharging the power supply and closes her eyes. As she focuses the Force, she also talks to the lambent, encouraging it to become a part of the metal around it.

She feels the Force flow through the weapon, melding it, changing it, and merging its pieces. She is amazed at how the Force works, modifying the weapon on a molecular level.

Then she realizes that the same thing is happening to her. Making changes to how she acts and reacts, deepening her trust of the Force. She wonders if this is what it means to be a Jedi.

Then the world falls away, and she realizes that she is no longer sitting in her chair, the disparate parts of her saber are no longer in her hands. Now it is whole. A smoothly polished cylinder, held loosely in her hand.

She looks around, and finds herself in smoky darkness. Nothingness surrounds her. Then she hears a sound from behind her and she spins around.

Before her stands a figure in a dark cloak, an evil and menacing air is around her, and Nelani takes an instinctive step back away from the figure. Her thumb moves to the activation plate of her saber.

Her voice wavers. "Who's there?"

The voice is low and menacing and definitely feminine. "You know who I am."

Nelani shakes her head. "No, I don't. Step closer so I can see you."

The figure steps closer, and lowers the cowl of her cloak, revealing luxurious dark black hair, and Nelani's facial features, except they are older, more mature. But what startles Nelani the most, is the figure's eyes, one is the ice-blue of her own color, the other is a sickly yellow tinged with red.

"Is this close enough for you?"

She quickly nods her head, and when the figure smiles at her, Nelani has the overwhelming desire to scream.

"Good. I shall tell you this once. You are a shatter point. One way, you shall be a slave to the Dark Side, the other a servant to the Light Side. Soon you will have to make a choice and a stand."

"I don't understand."

The figure starts to disappear. "Remember this, in the darkest of times, the smallest of lights shine brightest and are the easiest to snuff."

Then the figure is gone, and Nelani finds herself sitting once more in her chair, the saber she built held lovingly in her hands. She stands, feeling a few of her joints crack, and takes a step back from her desk.

She holds the saber out in vertically in front of her, and thumbs the ignition switch. A snap-hiss, followed by the steady thrum of a lightsaber greets her ears. She opens her eyes to find herself staring at a lightsaber blade without color, just a shining shaft of bright, clean, white light.

She swings the blade, a smile growing on her face as the weapon's thrum changes as it moves through the air.

She shuts down the saber, and rushes out into the common area, searching for her master. "Lord Vader!"

He looks up from the datapad held in his hands. "Yes?"

With her smile still plastered on her face, she holds her saber up for his inspection. He takes it from her hand, nodding his head as he looks over the weapon. Then he holds it out, and ignites the blade. His gasp at its appearance overrides the normally steady breathing. "I've never seen this color before. Well done Nelani."

He shuts down the weapon and holds it out to her. She lovingly takes the weapon, a blush creeping on her cheeks at his praise. "Thank you Master."

As he returns to his datapad, she wishes once again he would remove his mask.

-----------------------------------------

Jaina is in the pagoda, her legs crossed, her eyes shut as she floats half a meter above the ground. She is pulling her emotions and feelings in tight, wrapping them up into durasteel and then locking them away.

She is tired of being hurt by death.

She sighs as her physical body intrudes on her meditations, and tries to push the distraction away. A moment later it comes again, someone rubbing something soft and tickly on her cheek.

The distraction is enough this time, and she feels herself drop the half meter to the ground. She lets out a low growl of frustration and pain as she looks up to see who had been annoying her. She finds herself staring at Kyp Durron.

He gives her a big smile, which Jaina is certain is fake.

"What do you want, Durron?"

"Just to talk."

She cocks an eyebrow, trying to figure the older Jedi out. "What? Don't have any friends?"

Kyp barks a laugh. "No, it's nothing like that; I wanted to talk to you about Jedi stuff."

Jaina leans back, trying to figure out what he is going on about. "Sure, what did you want to talk about?"

Kyp looks off towards the distance for a second. "I want you to think about something, don't answer right now, but think about it." He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I'd like you to become my apprentice."

"What?!"

Kyp laughs. "Well, you've not been able to spend a lot of time around Master Skywalker, and she's been doing more things with Anakin anyways. It seems like you still need some training, and someone out here, fighting the Vong like you have been, needs someone out here doing the same. You need someone like you."

Jaina frowns, the skin tightening around her eyes, as they close slightly. "And that someone is you?"

Kyp nods his head, and she looks around for something to throw.

Unable to find something she shakes her head, and says through clenched teeth, "I don't think so."

Kyp stands up. "I'm not taking your answer right now. Think about it, and come to me when you've made up your mind for real."

"Aunt Mara is my master."

Kyp shrugs his shoulders. "Whatever you say, Princess. But ask yourself this, if she's your master, why is she always teaching Anakin?"

Then he turns from her, and starts walking down the steps of the pagoda. Jaina, lost in thoughts over Kyp and his proposition, ignores his leaving.

She settles back down, frustration and confusion welling up within her. She tries to meditate, and lets out a low growl - which quickly turns into a scream when she is unable to calm her mind enough to do so.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The pain spikes, and then another cortex expands before her, an Eighth Cortex. As the pain fades away, Nen Yim gasps in awe as she delves into the new cortex.

There arrayed before her are the weapons which have been handed down at the beginning of the war.

Then her heart falters, and her hope falls away. A handful of new weapons, a dozen or so new tricks, that is all that the Eight Cortex contains. That feeling of dead and static knowledge once more falls upon her as she wonders how her people will survive when they cannot innovate new weapons and defenses against the Infidels.

She allows her consciousness to wander around the Cortex, hoping to find something, anything.

It's empty!

Her mind cries that out over and over again. The sum totality of Yuuzhan Vong knowledge is useless. The Infidels can already match every item within the Eighth Cortex, and they produce new weapons and tactics constantly.

She returns to her body, the despair following her from the _Qang Qahsa_. As she opens her eyes, she finds herself looking into the demented gaze of Kae Kwaad.

He looks at her for a moment more and then cackles a laugh. "So, you have found our greatest and most shameful secret. The hidden Eighth Cortex. You understand."

Nen Yim leans back in her chair-biot. "Yes, I understand. There is nothing left. While we may defeat the Infidels initially, they will ultimately defeat us, as they are not restricted in what they can devise."

She closes her eyes, and utters another phrase, "Mezhan Kwaad."

Nothing happens; Nen Yim frowns as she looks towards the basket of mature grutchin. Kae follows her gaze. "I assume that was the trigger for the grutchin you altered. I took the precaution of destroying them."

His smile is enough to turn Nen Yim's stomach, as she seriously considers throttling the insane Master with her bare hands.

Kae stands. "Come with me."

"Why?"

Kae holds out his hands to either side. "My dear Nen Tsup, must you always question everything? Why? Why? Why! Why not? Besides, you are not truly in a position to deny my commands now are you my dear heretic?"

Nen Yim sighs and stands as well, once more pushing off her desire to kill him. "Where are we going?"

Kae laughs again. "Why, to see Shimmra of course."

Nen Yim's heart plummets, and dread takes root in her soul. As he walks past her personal artifacts, he grabs her qahsa and tosses it at her. "You will need this I believe."

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Yal Phaath watches as his _voxyn_ hunts the infidels. It does not matter the terrain or the prey, the _voxyn_ succeeds.

He grins as one of the infidels is impaled by one of the many spikes found on the _voxyn_'s tail, knowing that the flesh eating bacteria which infect those spikes will ensure he dies horrifically, even if the _voxyn_ doesn't kill him itself.

He turns towards the Executor who stands silently beside him watching the _voxyn_ perform. Yal Phaath smiles at Nom Anor.

"So, do you appreciate our efforts now, Executor?"

Nom Anor looks at him. "They perform admirably against the normal Infidels, but you have yet to test them against the Jeedai. I will not believe their abilities until they are past that test. If they do not succeed against _Jeedai_, then they are a gross misuse of resources. The Vagh Rodiek are being created, and their early tests show them much better at destroying normal infidels."

Yal snarls at Nom Anor. "Are you challenging me, Executor?"

Nom Anor shakes his head, an oddly human gesture. "Not at all Master Shaper. I'm just withholding judgment, until I see proof."

"The Warmaster has promised me _Jeedai_ to be hunted. The other possible solution is to send it on out to the field, and have it hunt them there."

Nom Anor strokes his chin, and turns back towards the shaper. "That is a possibility, and I believe I know exactly how to do that for you. Now, while you are here around this planet, I have a second item that you might wish to look into."

Yal's headdress twists into a sign of interest. "What is that?"

"The ysalamri, the food of the vonskyrs, have the unique ability to strip a _Jeedai_ of their powers. Their drawback is that they are to bulk to carry. I want one that we can hand out to our warriors."

Yal grins. "An interesting challenge. I will look into this."

Nom Anor grins as well. "Then this has been a profitable visit."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

An _Immobilizer_ class Interdictor travels within hyperspace, traveling through that realm of non-reality towards its destination.

Unlike other _Immobilizer_-class interdictors, this particular ship only has two mass generators.

Unlike other interdictors, this particular ship has no sublight engines.

Unlike other interdictors, this particular ship does not have a single living soul on board.

Unlike other interdictors, this particular ship is merely bait.

She drops out of hyperspace, pulled from it, by Yuuzhan Vong interdictor dovin basils. As soon as she reverts to real space automatic programs go into effect. These programs send out a communication over the holonet, raises shields, and activates the mass generators. The Yuuzhan Vong in the system advance on the ship; their cannons firing the superheated balls of plasma which slam against the shields of the decrepit interdictor.

For two minutes and seventeen seconds, the Interdictor's shields last. Another twenty seconds after the shields drop, the gravity well generators go offline, the interdictor itself floating away an empty broken hull once again.

But that is enough time, for as soon as the Interdictor sent the message out over the holonet, hundreds of starfighters, and seven capital ships drop from hyperspace, all oriented towards the worldship where it slowly orbits around Serpindal's star.

Even as the attack fleet drops out of hyperspace, their sublight engines burst and they dive towards their prey. The coral skippers and cruiser analogs behind them start twisting around trying to catch up to the New Republic Forces.

Jaina glances down at her console, as two of the New Republic capital ships veer off to hold back the cruiser analogs. She flips a switch, and there is a low rumble through the ship as the s-foils swing open and lock into attack position. She drops into the Force, feeling her ship, how it moves, how it reacts. She can feel the generators and engines as the controlled explosions power her ship, can feel the thin whispery electricity of the shields as they kiss the hull.

She loves this.

Gavin's voice comes over the com, barely recognizable, garbled with static. "Rogues, we're heading in. We fire a torpedo salvo at a single point, provided by me, then come around and repeat. Two runs, two torpedoes each run. Make sure to do it on my command."

Eleven clicks answer him, and Jaina can feel a grin start to tug at her features.

Cappie whistles at her, and a countdown and coordinates appear on one of her consoles, directions from Rogue Leader on when and where to send her torpedoes.

"Would you look at the size of that thing?"

Gavins voice appears again. "Cut the chatter Rogue Four."

She almost laughs as a click answers Gavin. Then they are there, and it is time. The console flashes zero, Cappie lets out the high tone of a missile lock, and Jaina pulls the trigger.

She watches for a moment as her torpedoes fly from the launches on the nose of her craft to join the eleven other pairs, then she pulls back and down on her stick rolling away from the giant worldship.

A new set of coordinates appear, with another countdown, and Jaina twists and turns as the first balls of plasma flies past her cockpit. She glances out and sees the _Ralroost_ as it comes within firing range of the worldship, and rains its coherent light down upon the giant coral vessel.

She glances at her monitor and sees that her wingman is still there, and then lines up on the course provided by Rogue Lead.

The counter hits zero, and she lets her torpedoes fly, and immediately flicks a switch, going over to her laser canons. Punching the etheric rudders, she slews her craft around, and finds herself facing two skips. She presses the stutter fire trigger, and the low powered darts pepper the lead skip.

When they start to get through, she sends a full powered blast and barks a laugh as the blasts rupture the yorik coral, and the vong warrior flies from the tumbling debris.

An explosion behinds her, sends her craft reeling. "Cappie what was that?"

A message appears on the screen telling her that her wingman is gone. She twists her craft into a spiral. "Find me the skip that killed her."

A blip turns bright green, and Jaina angles that way. A snarl coming from her throat as she once more peppers the enemy with stutter fire. Her craft is swaying from side to side, up and down to bypass the balls of plasma that are directed at her.

She growls in triumph as she fires full powered blasts and hulls the canopy of the skip. A second later she flashes past the dead skip, and starts scanning the skies for her next prey.

"Sticks! Bank port now!"

Without hesitation, she pushes her ship hard port, as balls of plasma shoot through where she had just been. She banks right, hoping to get away from the skip on her tail. Then a pain rips through her, centered in her abdomen, she doubles over as best she can in the X-wing's cockpit. She screams at the savagery of it, and the Force screams with her.

The pain fades as her ship shudders, and a dozen warning lights pop on. She growls, and flicks her com. "This is Sticks, I've lost my shields, and I'm losing power."

Then the com is off, and she growls to Cappie. "C'mon Cappie, get my shields and engines back up."

The droid tootles in reply, and Jaina twists her craft again, as something slams into it. The sound of screaming overstressed metal fills the cockpit, as all the console lights flickers off for a second, and then comes back on at half power.

Outside the stars swirl in a nauseating pattern, and Jaina sees two of her s-foils flying away on a different trajectory. She leans back in her seat as her momentum takes her from the field of battle. Jaina closes her eyes, and tries to not throw up.

Then the pain hits her again, greater this time, and Jaina curls over, crouching around herself, pulling her knees up to her chest, as the tears start streaming down her face.

------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin steps into the med-center. He looks at the far wall and sees a door. The door. A portal to another room, another realm.

A med-droid floats over to him. "How may I assist you milord?"

"Begone. I have no injuries."

The droid moves away on its repulsers and Anakin pushes the distraction from his mind.

He walks over to the door, and stretches out his hand over the activation plate. He hesitates, torn between the desire to see her again, and the fear of doing so. Closing his eyes, his finger stabs forward and the door shoots open.

Anakin stares into the darkened room, and then strides in with a confidence he does not feel.

Lights come on in the room, and a large bacta tank in the middle of the room is highlighted by the soft diffused glow of them. Anakin steps up to it, and an internal light comes on revealing Tahiri's body floating there.

He glances at the monitor built into the side of the tank, and sees the familiar readings there. No heartbeat. No respiration. No brain activity. To every medical sensor in the galaxy, she is dead.

And in the Force, she is dead.

His voice is a whisper, reverent. "I miss you Tahiri."

He looks down at his hands. "I'm sorry I haven't visited before now. But I've been training someone to help me destroy the Yuuzhan Vong. Training someone to help me avenge you."

He glances behind him, ensuring the door is locked, and then strips off his helmet, allowing it to fall from his fingers. He drops to his knees in front of the tank, and presses his forehead against the cool glass.

"I'm so sorry Tahiri. I should have just answered his questions. Then maybe you would still be alive."

He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears as they threaten to fall once more.

"I should have been able to save you."

A single tear escapes from his tightly clenched eyes.

"I should have been a better friend."

His body hitches once again. His voice is once more low and reverent, a whisper. "I'm so sorry."

------------------------------------------------------------

Nen Yim has known fear many times throughout her life. Fear at not being accepted as a shaper, fear of something going wrong with her implants, causing her to be shamed. Even a fear of being found out as a heretic.

Yet those fears are as nothing as she enters the throne room of the Yuuzhan Vong. Her eyes travel down the dark room, until they come to rest on the _hua polyp_ throne where the Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong sits.

He is the single largest being that she has ever seen. A dark form, dressed in the skin of a previous Supreme Overlord, the mqaaq'it implants which are his eyes shine like rainbows, the skin is flayed away from his mouth and cheeks, the lack of skin shows pointed teeth and the moist slickness of cheek muscles which glisten in the dim light.

Nen Yim advances down the room, a sense of vertigo striking her, as even though the floor is slanted downwards, it feels as if she is walking up a hill. Drum beetles, and whistlers sound throughout the hall, giving an oddly organic swell of music to her step. The music is a despair producing dirge, seeming to indicate her upcoming fate.

Once she arrives at the halfway point, she collapses to her knees and places her face to the floor. She can feel when he turns his attention upon her, a sense of dread and doom slamming down on her neck, crushing her spirit. She moans in awe of a deity made flesh.

She wants to scream when she hears his voice.

"So you have gazed into the Eight Cortex."

Pressure exerts itself against her, and all thoughts of lying flee from her. She trembles on the floor as she answers, "I have Dread One."

"Even though the Eight Cortex is forbidden to you."

"Yes, Dread One."

"Why?"

Nen Yim hesitates, wondering how she can answer this question. She feels Shimmra's attention pushing against her again, an overwhelming desire to tell the truth. "Because I had to know Dread One. I had to know if I could save the _Baanu Miir_."

She can hear Kae Kwaad scamper past her, and she risks a glance up, and sees him sit himself at Shimra's feet and gaze out at her.

Shimmra must have seen her look, because he glances down at the Master Shaper.

"Onimi, lose your disguise."

At his command, Yeev's hands falls off, revealing a shamed one. Horror and disgust slam into her at the abuse she took at his hands, and she has the desire to shove one of the dead shaper's hands down the shamed one's throat.

Shimmra laughs, another sound which gives Nen Yim the overwhelming desire to scream.

"Adept, this is my familiar, Onimi. As you may have guessed, I will occasionally use him for other purposes besides humor."

Nen Yim keeps her head bowed, and does not offer a reply. After a moment, Shimmra once more begins speaking.

"So, you understand what the Eight Cortex being empty means."

"I do Dread One. But I must ask, why could you not petition Yun Yuuzhan for more protocols?"

"Because He expects us to retrieve them from Him ourselves. Why would he give us the glory of suffering and pain, and then give us all the answers we need? No! He expects us to bleed and suffer for the knowledge which belongs in the Eighth Cortex."

He stands, and takes a step towards her. "And you Nen Yim are the shaper who is responsible for producing those protocols. My divine task to you is to steal that knowledge from Yun Yuuzhan, to fill the Eighth Cortex with new protocols and creatures, weapons with which we can destroy the remaining infidels with."

Nen Yim's head shoots up, as she looks into the ma'atik implants. She struggles against questioning the Dread One, knowing that to do so would lead to her death. After a moment, he smiles down at her, a terrible thing of twisted muscles and exposed teeth. "You shall be escalated to the rank of Master Shaper, and become my personnel shaper."

Nen Yim bows her head again. "Thank you Dread One."

"Do you understand your assignment and all that it curtails?" 

Nen Yim looks at the Supreme Overload, her thoughts racing. Yes, she did understand what was being asked of her, and what it meant. It meant that she was right in the thought that nothing new had been added to the Qang Qahsa since the Crossing began. It meant that she was being given blanket permission to perform her heresy, and attempt to advance the knowledge of the Yuuzhan Vong.

It meant that Shimmra, the ultimate leader, the guiding voice of the Yuuzhan Vong, Shimmra the voice of Yun Yuuzhan, was a heretic.

It meant that once the Eight Cortex was filled, her life was forfeit, as the knowledge that Shimmra was a heretic could never be released to the main Yuuzhan Vong populace.

She bows low. "I understand perfectly Dread One."

Forfeit or not, it matters little. She will be able to help her people the most by this. She straightens, but still does not dare look into his eyes. "May I ask of the fate of the _Baanu Miir_?"

Shimmra waves one of his massive arms. "Their fate matters not. They are lost to death in the cold between the galaxies. If the shipwomb had not been desecrated, then we could have saved them, and the others who are still lost in the void, unfortunately that is not to be."

Nen Yim nods her head, a fire burning in her as she ponders how best to destroy the infidels who have killed so many of her people this day.

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Lu'Ath smiles at the Yoric-Vec as it sits nestled in the grass. He turns towards the Shamed Ones, the Heretics, who stand around him, and lifts his vibrosword high into the air.

The dozen heretics' voices rise up a cry of victory. 

After the echoes die away Lu'ath smiles at them once more. "We have struck our first blow against the oppressiveness of the High Castes. Now we shall go forth, and spread the truth of the _Jeedai _to all of our people."

He gestures silently, and the Shamed Ones tromp up the tongue and board the Yoric-Vec. Lu'ath gestures towards one of the former warriors, motioning for him to come closer.

"Tokra, find me one who was once a shaper. I wish for us to wear new robes."

The warrior nods his head, and then walks up the ramp. Lu'ath turns and watches the bodies of the dead Yuuzhan Vong in the distance as they burn. He grins in delight, certain that his own redemption is nigh.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve **

Anakin is deep within his meditations, the cold, harsh comfort of the Force all around him, off to one side, he can make out Nelani, a beacon of light and strength, with slowly darkening edges.

For a second, he wonders if he should be worried over that, if dragging Nelani into the Dark Side with him is something he should do. If he should sacrifice that light, that joy and happiness on the alter of his revenge. Then he pushes the concern from his mind as he remembers his mission. All other things pale beside the need for revenge. Morality, ethics, compassion, those are things he can have once again after he has destroyed the Vong.

Love he expects to never have again.

Yet here in the cold grip of the Dark Side of the Force, that is fine with him. The Force sustains him and grants him, not peace, but acceptance. Yet he wonders as to the fate of his family. It has been a long time since he has seen them, or heard from them.

He subtly touches his sister, for the first time in almost two months, he can feel the calm, collected attention of Jaina in battle, and withdraws, not wishing to distract her. After all she is killing Vong.

He reaches out to his mother, and feels her concern and worry. With a start he realizes that it is mostly concern and worry for him, about him. Frowning he withdraws, and pushes away the uncomfortable feeling that creeps into his heart at causing his mother such pain.

Then he reaches for his Aunt Mara. He growls as he can feel the sickness battering at her, destroying her cells as she fights with all she is to save her unborn child. That sickness is another thing which the Vong shall pay for, Nom Anor in particular.

Then the pain hits him.

It washes over him, starting in his stomach and flowing through out his body from there. He screams in agony, as the pain fades away.

He finds himself bent over his knees, and Nelani is there, touching his back, whispering questions of concern. Anakin sits up, and looks at her, once more glad the mask hides his fears and features. He takes a deep breath, overriding the breathing mechanism, and exhales. He allows himself to look over his apprentice as she kneels in front of him, her obvious concern for him, unsettling to him somehow.

Also oddly unsettling to him is the demur nature with which she kneels in front of him. The coyness, mixed with brashness, shyness standing before the power she is learning to command. It is an oddly compelling mixture, and he fights an urge to lift her in his arms, and spin her around the room, in one of those ornate Alderaanian Waltzes his mother had him learn while he was growing up.

He can hear a whisper in his mind, telling him that she could be his.

With an effort he waves her concern away, and ignores the whisper. "I am fine Nelani. There is just a disturbance in the Force."

Nelani cocks her head slightly. "I felt nothing Master."

Anakin chuckles, pleased at her observation. "That is because the disturbance is from my aunt. She is either giving birth or dying."

Nelani starts to stand. "Then should we not go to her?"

Anakin waves at her to sit down as pain once more rips through him. As it fades he straightens once more. "No. There is nothing we can do there, and if we did go, we would most likely be detained. The others might not understand what we're doing out here, why I took up this mask."

The confusion shows on her face. "I understand Master."

Anakin places his hand on her shoulder. "I know you don't often understand why I do things, but I promise, one day you will. Now go, practice your katas, I fear I may be," Anakin pauses, considering his next word. "Incapacitated for the next few hours."

In one quick, graceful movement, Nelani stands and bows. "I obey Master." Then she is walking from the room, and Anakin can't help but watch how she moves.

Then the pain strikes again; doubling him over as the waves of agony wash over him.

------------------------------------------------

Nelani dances.

Even though she knows that they are called katas, even though she knows it's the basics of fighting with her lightsaber, the basics of all fighting with the Jedi arts, that isn't how she defines it to herself.

To her it's always a dance. The Dance.

Graceful, powerful, seductive.

She struggles with some of the things which Lord Vader teaches her. Telekinesis, precognition, sending and sharing thoughts with him, they all cause her various amounts of troubles while she learned them, and even afterwards.

She flat out refused to attempt to learn how to absorb blaster bolts.

Yet the katas, the Dance, she has loved from the moment Lord Vader showed them to her. Then when he and the two Noghri taught her more and more fighting techniques, and taught her how to layer them into her katas, she loved it even more.

The hum of the saber, the movement of her body. A twist, a jump, a slash, and a stab. The simple mechanical ability of The Dance enhanced and assisted by the Force. If she practices for one hour or four, she finds a smile on her face more often than not.

She considers the Dance, considers it a simple thing, a remembrance of life before the Yuuzhan Vong, before they decimated Lorrd. When all she had to worry about was her next dance recital, rather than having to learn how to evade Vong patrols, or how to stop blasters on the blade of her lightsaber.

The graceful movements, reminds her of home. When she was surrounded by her mother and father and sister. Not when her only companion was a broken hero, wearing the armor of his dead grandfather.

One of the reasons that she loves this dance is that this dance allows her to protect herself and the galaxy. It allows her to be a line in the sand, protecting those who are unable to protect themselves. She sees it as a step to keep what happened to her family, from happening to other families.

The other reason she loves the Dance, is the simple fact that she can lose herself in the Dance. The demands of the flesh, the simple exertion of muscles, it is that which she can pour her concerns and worries into, her thoughts and dreams, until she is simply the Dance as well.

She can pour her concerns and feelings over and for her Master into the Dance.

Yet even though she knows that the more she practices them, the more she learns, the deadlier she becomes; to her it is still just a dance, The Dance.

Unknown to her, in an earlier, happier time her Master would have called it Meditation in Motion, and would often practice it himself. Doing some exercises over and over again until exhaustion would quiet his mind.

Nelani finishes her katas, and sinks to the mat, her chest heaving as she catches her breath. A quick glance at the chrono reveals that she has been here for a little over an hour already. She allows a smile to come to her face as she stands and heads to her room. As she walks, her muscles settle in, begin contracting, protesting her overuse of them during her training. She allows a smile to come to her face, remembering what her Master said the first time she did the katas, when she complained about her screaming muscles, "If it doesn't hurt, you're not doing it right."

She can feel the pain which still periodically comes off her master, waves of agony coming through him from his aunt. She quickly strips and gets cleaned up in the refresher, allowing the water to wash away the sweat and tension, allowing the water to soothe her tired muscles.

Getting out, she has an idea, and sits down in front of her terminal, a smile on her face. She has a piece of the puzzle of who exactly Lord Vader is. Quickly accessing the holonet, she searches to find out which of the Jedi Knights are pregnant, and most importantly pregnant enough to be going into labor right now, and which of those pregnant Jedi Knights has family.

She leans back in her chair as the system performs her request. Within moments, a result appears on the screen, and Nelani's eyes widen. Her hand covers her mouth as she leans forward closer to the terminal. As she follows a link to an image, she has to wonder which brother is behind the mask.

------------------------------------------------

Luke is sitting near Mara's head, her clammy hand grasped in his, as he stares off into space, wondering how he can fix everything.

_Now Farmboy_.

Startled he focuses his attention on her face. Her eyes are still closed, and face is immobile. He frowns, certain that he had heard her voice.

_It is time_.

Opening his mouth slightly, it takes him a second to process that he is feeling and hearing her through the Force. He calls out for Cilghal, and grips Mara's hand tighter.

"What do you need me to do Mara?"

There is no answer, and Luke probes her with the Force, nearly wailing in despair at how far gone her body has become.

He closes his eyes and plunges into the Force, seeing the darkness which surrounds and consumes his wife. Pain, loneliness, fear, misery, betrayal, jealousy, hate, sickness, death. All the negativity of life pulses out at him.

He forges ahead, fighting her disease, attacking it, pushing against the darkness.

Ultimately, he starts to become overwhelmed by the darkness. He can feel the darkness within him offering him the chance to save her. The chance to avenge her.

_No! _

The word echoes around in his mind. A command, an imperative, and Luke blinks, stopping his attack.

_Not the way. _

Luke frowns, confused. He silently wonders what his wife expects from him. He sends his confusion to her through their bond.

_Attack. Not the way_.

At her simple reply he almost laughs. Then he calms himself, centers his focus, and pushes the darkness away. He gathers the Force to him, and probes her body once more; searching for her, searching for that quality, that essential essence which he has always defined as Mara.

He finds it wrapped tightly around his son.

Walls of armor and shielding represented in the Force by durasteel and barbed wire. He goes up to the shields, and searches for a way inside.

"Mara you have to let me in."

Her voice is weak. "Skywalker?"

"Yes, let me in."

A crack appears, and Luke darts in to find himself faced with another set of shields. He searches for another entrance, and just as he is about to give up, finds a small crack which he slips through.

Finally he reaches the center, and finds his wife there with his son.

He caresses his wife, embracing her through the Force. "It is time Mara."

She nods her head. "I know."

He pours his strength and love into her, as the first of her labor pains contract around her, mind shattering agony which spreads through the Force.

For hours the waves of agony wash against Luke and the strength he pours down to Mara, then his concentration is shattered by the wailing of a newborn baby, the braying of new lungs exerting themselves. Luke opens his eyes, and sees Cilghal there holding his son. A smile lights up his face, as he turns towards Mara.

When he sees her his smile dies.

Her skin ashen and grey before has gone even paler; her presence in the Force slowly dimming. Screaming her name, he plunges back into the Force, grasping for her. He can feel Anakin reaching out to her as well, his own powerful Force presence, working in conjunction with Luke's to keep Mara from dying.

He feels her communicating with Anakin, trying to help him understand. Then she focuses on him for a second.

_Take care of my son Farmboy. Love you_.

"Mara!"

He grabs at her in the Force again, trying to find her, but her presence just slips away. She just slips away. He can hear his scream of her name echoing throughout the med center, drowning out the wails of his son. A sob wracks his body, as he holds Mara's lifeless hand in his.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Jaina winces as the pain rolls away from her stomach, and lets out a sharp yell of excitement as the power on her ship comes back on. She starts flicking switches, and shunts power to her shields and other systems.

"Great going Cappie!" The droid tootles happily at her, and she starts flipping through the various screens which detail what is in the system, and something catches her eye. Her brow creases, as she leans closer to the screen. Sitting back, she pours power into the repulsers, using them to direct her ship to the closest one, scanning it with the rudimentary sensors found onboard every X-Wing.

As she nears it, she recognizes it for what it is, a large dovin basil. She frowns wondering what it is doing out here. She scans looking for another one, and finds it a few kilometers off and closer to the star. Then another, and then another.

She does a wide spectrum scan and finds a line of them, stretching from the sun to the remains of the still burning worldship.

A deep hate and rage erupts in her, as she growls out Kyp's name. She flicks on her com. "Rogue Leader, this is Sticks."

She can the hear relief in Gavin's voice. "Sticks! Happy you could rejoin us."

The joy in Gavin's voice relieves some of the anger, but it is still burning bright in her stomach. "Copy that Lead, but there's something down here, I, I think you need to see it."

Concern fills his voice. "On my way Sticks."

Jaina allows her ship to wait there by the dovin basil, the anger still boiling within her. Finally Gavin arrives in his X-Wing.

"What did you need me to…Oh."

"Yes sir and they stretch from the sun to the worldship."

She imagines him gritting his teeth. "I see. Well get back to the _Ralroost_, we're about to leave the system."

"Yes sir."

She applies power thrust to her engines slowly, and accelerates until her ship begins to shudder under the stress. Easing back on the thrust, she heads towards the _Ralroost_.

The air of excitement and celebration in the hanger bay nauseates her, and she lands her craft. Ignoring her post-flight checklist she pushes open the canopy and stumbles out, her body rebelling at her demands to stand up straight after being cramped in the fighter for too long with the phantom pain coming from her Aunt Mara.

She gasps and grabs at her side, a grimace marring her features, and her eyes squeeze shut, as pain slices through her. She opens her eyes, and blows out a breath. That was not as bad as the others.

She straightens, and scans the crowds. A horn blares, and Jaina looks out the magfield and sees the swirls of hyperspace. She once more starts looking around at those gathered, trying to find the person she wants to hit. Another contraction flows to her from her aunt, and she winces.

Finally she sees him.

A low growl comes from her throat as she stalks over to him. A light shines in his eyes, as his back is being pounded by the pilots in his Dozen. He looks down at her, one corner of his lips tugged into a superior smirk.

Another wave of pain crashes against her and Jaina is lost to her anger.

The thud of her fist colliding with his chin, stops all the yelling and celebrations. He crumples to the floor, where she quickly plants her foot in his stomach. A wave of her hand causes flecks of blood to splatter on the ground around her. Jaina looks at her hand and starts to suck the bloody knuckle while she continues to stare at Kyp as he picks himself up off the floor.

She moves the knuckle from her mouth. "You…you…" Anger flares again, as she is unable of something appropriate vile to call him. Both of her fists tighten, her body trembling as she suppresses the urge to once more start hitting on him. With an effort of will, she unclenches her fists.

A malicious light appears in Kyp's eyes. "Come on Princess; tell me what you truly think."

Her fist balls, a sliver of agony, which calls out to be used against him again. "You kriffing schutta. How dare you!"

"How dare I what Princess?" His voice drips venom and sarcasm on the last word.

She gestures to the pilots and flight crew around them. "Why don't you tell them the truth, tell them what we really fought out there. Tell them that it wasn't a Yuuzhan Vong superweapon that their friends died for today."

Kyp shrugs. "It wasn't. It was a standard, run of the mill worldship. A civilian craft."

"Why Kyp! Why?"

Kyp leans down so his face can be closer to her. "To send a message to the Vong."

Quiet hangs over the hanger. Jaina's eyes narrows. "What kind of message?"

He raises his voice so everyone in the hanger can hear him. "That they are not safe. That their civilians are not safe. They have walked over our worlds, enslaved our civilian populations, they destroyed Ithor! But until now we have only destroyed military craft."

"We're supposed to be better than that!" Her voice echoes in the cavernous hanger.

"We are, but now we have hit them where it hurts, we destroyed the hope for their civilians still outside the galaxy. From what I understand some of their worldships don't have the ability to get into our galaxy. So the Vong can use warships to ferry people, or let them die. Regardless it tells the Vong that if our people are not safe from their depravations, then neither are theirs safe from ours."

As he finishes his speech, a number of the pilots in the crowd cheer for him. Too many for Jaina's peace of mind.

"But you used me to do it. Now those deaths are on me, they're partly my fault."

Kyp shrugs his shoulders again. "The galaxy doesn't revolve around you, Princess. You never had a home world; you don't understand what it means to these people out here. To know that their worlds, their families and friends are suffering under the Vong, killed or turned into slaves or worse. We've just given the Vong a small sampling of what that tastes like."

Jaina's fist is connected with his chin again before she has conscious thought that she is going to hit him. Another growl rolls from her throat as he falls to the ground. Pulling back her foot she quickly kicks him and pulls her saber.

As she ignites it, hands grab her arms, trying to pull her away from him, and she can hear Gavin's voice in her ear. "Stand down Jaina. He's not worth it."

She glances towards him, and then looks over the other shoulder to see Wedge, who is staring at her with understanding in his eyes. "Gavin's right, Jaina - don't do this."

She heaves a deep breath, and extinguishes her saber. Glaring down at Kyp she spits on him. "I never want to see you again Durron."

"As you wish, Princess."

She moves to kick him again, stopping herself at the last minute. "I hate you."

His laughter haunts her as she walks from him, almost as much as the final words he says to her. "I love you though, Princess."

She sees one of the technicians who is looking over her X-wing. She stops beside him, fighting back the tears. "Please get my fighter repaired."

Startled the technician looks at her, and snaps a hasty salute. "Yes ma'am."

She leaves the hanger, a numbness crawling up her chest, and settling into her heart. Arriving at her assigned cabin, she unzips the flightsuit and shrugs out of it, allowing it to fall to the floor in a pile. She collapses onto the bed, and buries her face into her pillow as the tears start flowing freely, and her small frame is wracked with sobs.

Finally she sleeps.

She awakens to find herself screaming her aunt's, her master's, her mentor's name. It echoes within the small cabin as a fire rages throughout her stomach and groin. Pain floods her from the bond she shares with Mara. She curls up into a ball as the pain crests.

And then it is gone.

She sits up, her brows scrunched in confusion. The other pains tapered off, this one just disappeared. Then she smiles, her new cousin must have been born. She probes her Aunt Mara, and just gets a feeling of exhaustion and completion, and then she probes Luke, and feels that blast of happiness and awe.

She lies back on the bed, finally slipping under the ships, when the Force wails with her Uncle Luke's grief. A wall of it, of those dark emotions slams into her. She stretches out to find Mara, reaches further into the Force than she ever has before.

And finds nothing.

---------------------------------------------------

Jacen frowns as a wave of black grief rolls over him. He looks skyward for a moment, before resuming batting the blaster bolts back towards the advancing Peace Brigade.

A name rolls off his tongue, a whisper, a prayer. A eulogy. "Aunt Mara."

He looks around, wondering why he decided to come to this Force-forsaken planet again. Then he remembers, this is where his brother was last seen, at least as himself.

A flash of red flying past his head, reminds him that he needs to focus on what is in front of him. His aunt is dead, and if he doesn't pay attention that could very well be his own fate.

A twist of the wrist and another bolt flies away from him, this time striking the devaronian who shot it at him. Jacen sighs, wondering why these Peace Brigades would think they could take him.

He feels a tug in the Force, and looks to the top of a building. There is Ganner, a grin on his face as he peers over the edge, watching those advancing against Jacen.

A question rolls through the Force, and Jacen shrugs his shoulder in reply. Then Ganner leaps, landing behind the Peace Brigade troops, and igniting his saber. He has three of them down on the ground missing body parts before the first one is able to turn around and face him.

To Ganner's laughter, Jacen darts forward and attacks, always going for a disabling blow rather than a killing one.

As the last one falls, Jacen and Ganner extinguish their sabers, and Jacen leans down to talk to the leader of this cell of the Peace Brigade.

He holds a still image of Anakin up before the man's face. "I'm looking for my brother."

"Kriff off Jedi!"

The sound of running feet attracts the two Jedi's attention. In unison they look down the alley and see the group advancing. Even with the distance separating them, they can see the brandished weapons, and can feel the aggression rolling through the Force.

Jacen sighs as he looks at Ganner. "No time to question him. Let's get out of here."

Ganner nods his head, and they run further down the street, ducking into an alley. As soon as they got out of sight of the crowd, they use the Force to leap to the top of the buildings, and go that way to the spaceport.

--------------------------------------------------------

Anakin sits in his meditation pose, letting the waves of agony wash over and through him. Then they stop, and Anakin reaches out once more, and can feel his uncle's joy shining in the Force.

He can feel a smile stretch his features under the mask, happy at the knowledge that he now has a cousin.

Then Luke's Force presence alters, changing from shining joy to overwhelming grief.

A grief which he finds curiously reflected in the Tahiri-shaped hole still in his heart. Scared he reaches for Mara, trying to find her in the Force. He can feel his Uncle doing the same, and for the first time since Tahiri's death isn't concerned if his Uncle finds him through the Force.

His only concern is not allowing his Aunt to die.

"NO!"

His scream echoes throughout Bast Castle, and Anakin pours more of his self into the Force, pushing at keeping Mara from death. He grasps her presence in the Force, pulls on it, against it. Refusing to let it go, refusing to let her go into the Force. It is slippery, and slides through his grip.

As the tears streak behind the mask, he can hear his Aunt's voice. Calm, collected, professional.

_There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force._

As he screams his rage and sadness, he feels comforting arms wrap around him. Holding him tightly, crushing him against her. He collapses into Nelani's embrace as his body shakes with his sobs.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

The hiss-crack of lightsaber smashing against lightsaber reverberates throughout the training room. The blow against Nelani's blade drives her back and causes her to stumble. Vader's blade slices in towards her vertically, and she drops to the mat.

She suppresses a snarl, as she rolls back on her left hip, coming up in a ready crouch. As Vader advances, she slashes wide and level at him, the white and purple from their blades, creating highlights in her black hair. A feral light shines in her eyes, and matches the snarl that finally escapes her lips.

Vader leaps above her slash, twisting around and landing behind her. He stabs his saber down at the ground, where it catches Nelani's return cut. Vader pivots and his foot kicks out at Nelani's head.

She twists her head to the side, but Vader's foot still connects with her shoulder, knocking her backwards. She uses the momentum of the kick to spin into a somersault, coming up on her feet with her blade once more held at the ready.

Vader raises his blade into a guard high by his right ear, the blade standing straight up pointing away from his shoulder, while Nelani faces him, her blade running from her left pelvis to her right shoulder, her chest heaving with her exertions, her exposed skin covered with a sheen of sweat.

She wonders to herself how he can fight in that armor, and not get overheated.

Nelani crashes her blade against Vader's driving him backwards.

He pushes against their locked blades and she stumbles back a few steps. Vader advances towards her, his saber coming in fast and hard; and crashing against her blade. As Nelani struggles to parry his strikes, she feels something wrapping around her leg, and suddenly her right leg flies out from underneath her.

With a cry of pain, Nelani lands on her back, smacking her head against the hard floor and the feeling of something wrapped around her leg suddenly disappears.

Wincing, she levers herself up, rubbing the back of her head as she looks up at Vader. Vader extinguishes his saber as he stares down at her for a minute.

"You've done better this time. But you still get too focused on a single attack; did you not feel my attack through the Force?"

Nelani looks down at her saber. "I'm sorry Master, I did feel as you grabbed my leg, but I was so focused on parrying that I couldn't think of something to do."

"I understand, and you have truly improved. In fact, on this next mission, I wish for you to accompany me."

Nelani pushes down her embarrassment at the praise even as she sits up straighter. "Really?"

Vader chuckles slightly, and Nelani looks down blushing. He places one of his gloved hands on her shoulder. "Yes really. We're going to Rodia. There are tales of a new Vong weapon being developed there."

Nelani jumps up and throws her arms around Vader. "Thank you for trusting me Master!"

She can feel the muscles in his shoulders and back stiffen from the hug, and she drops from him, letting him go, and once more lookes down at her hands. "Sorry, Master. I was just excited."

He watches her for a moment, and then turns away. "It is all right Nelani." With a swirl of his cape, he is gone, leaving Nelani to stare at the doorway he disappeared down, even as her cheeks burn with her embarrassment.

-------------------------------------

Anakin closes the door behind him and leans against it heavily. He reaches up and pulls the helmet off, allowing the cool air to tease the hair that has finally started growing back in. Locking the door behind him, he walks over to his desk, and places the helmet on it, so that the red lenses would stare at him. He sinks into the chair, and looks into the sightless eyes of his mask.

"Why am I doing this?"

He doesn't hear an answer, and does not truly expect one. After all, he knows the answer. He does this for revenge. To make those responsible for Tahiri's death suffer.

"Why am I doing this to Nelani though?"

He still doesn't hear an answer, but this time he desperately wishes he could. Every day she is around him, he watches as her Force presence darkens, as it becomes more like his has, yet part of him screams that he cannot stop until Tahiri is avenged. He hates himself for doing this to her, as much as he hates himself for his doubts over it all.

He runs his hands through the short hair that has grown back since the fire, sighing slightly as feelings of sorrow and despair still pound against him. He closes his eyes to meditate, and winces back from the Force. It is no longer warm and inviting, but cold and sticky. He wishes for the warm embrace of joy, or the scalding heat of anger.

This coldness, this apathy causes his despair to worsen. Yet the more he is around Nelani, the harder it is to hold onto his anger and hate. The harder it is to hold onto his sorrow.

Unbidden, the image of her in her training outfit assails him, especially as he had last seen her in the training room. A smile on her lips, her body glistening from the sweat.

He lets out a small growl as he stands and begins pacing the room, his frustration increasing with his every step. Wanting to get his mind off Nelani and how her hug felt, but unable, or unwilling, to meditate to do so.

Returning to his desk, he activates the console there, and checks on the preparations for his next trip. Smiling in satisfaction that the device he wants is ready; he turns off the console and once more tries to meditate.

Anakin closes his eyes again, trying to access the Force the way he used to, the way he did with Tahiri, but it eludes him. All he can find is that cold, fearful place within him. Silently he wonders if that is because he has fallen or because she has died.

As he embraces the cold and the fear, he decides that it doesn't really matter.

----------------------------------------------

Jacen and Ganner are in a dingy cantina on Toporwa. A thick slime covers the walls, and floors. Jacen picks up his glass and looks at the amber fluid with flecks of something floating in it. He sniffs at the fluid experimentally.

Setting the glass back down without taking a drink, he looks at Ganner. "Why exactly are we here again?"

"We're looking for you little brother, remember?"

"Right, remind me to smack him once or twice when we find him." Ganner barks a short laugh in reply as Jacen continues talking. "I wonder how long Uncle Luke is going to have us do this; Anakin's been missing almost a year now."

Ganner gives a quick shake of his head, and then lifts his chin towards the doorway. "Our contact has arrived."

A kubaz walks over and sits at their table, the stench that wafts off of him causing Ganner to wrinkle his nose.

Are you the ones who seek the new Lord Vader?

Jacen nods his head. "Yes we are."

The kubaz glances around the room. I saw his fight on Garqi. He destroyed a legion of warriors.

Jacen looks across the table at Ganner for a moment, before turning back to the kubaz. "Garqi? We were unaware of his actions on Garqi."

Be as it may, he destroyed a legion of warriors in the training grounds, and then him and his apprentice, a young human female, disappeared.

"Do you know where they went?"

No. But he has been sighted on Lorrd, Agamar, Belkadan and Garqi. My question for you is where were the Vong next?

Jacen hands the kubaz a number of credits. "Thank you."

Without replying the kubaz slips out of his seat and leaves the cantina, nodding to a large yinchorri at the bar. Jacen places a credit chit on the table, and the two Jedi stand up, just as the yinchorri and two burly humans step up to them.

The Yinchorri hisses at them, "Jedi?"

Jacen shakes his head. "You've got the wrong people."

Jacen expands his awareness in the Force, getting a feel for the three beings arrayed against him and Ganner, and frowns.

He can only pick up the Yinchorri. He glances at Ganner for a second, and then reaches out and swipes the nose of one of the humans, and his flesh appears to start peeling off, and forming a pool at his feet.

Jacen's saber appears in his hand, as he steps forward, and ignites it. A quick slash and the Yinchorri falls away, dead before the two halves of him hit the ground. A second slash is caught by one of the Vong on their amphistaff.

He spares a glance at Ganner and sees him occupied with the other Vong warrior, and turns his attention back to the one he is fighting.

---------------------------------------------------

Tsavong Lah orders his familiar to appear before him. While he waits, he watches the _Vigollarkta_, the sacrifice held every klekket to thank Yun Yammka for his blessings while the Elite conquer the Infidels.

He stands on the observation tongue, a snarl twisting his features as the thousand infidels are slowly pressed forward, and pushed into the immolation pit. He pushes down the desire to laugh as the infidels scream in their death throes.

A scuffle of sound behind him, and he turns that way and sees his familiar. Without responding he turns back to the immolation pit, as the last of the slaves deemed worthy sacrifices are thrown into the pit. After a moment, he finally speaks.

"I have heard from Nom Anor, he is impressed by the _voxyn_, and reiterates that we need to either retrieve _Jeedai_ for our use, or send the animal out into the field. How goes your attempts to capture that _Jeedai_?"

"I have noticed that he attacks training grounds and weapons facilities. He is attacking our ability to wage war."

"And how have you leveraged this insight into his capture?"

"We've prepared a trap for him on the infidel planet Rodia. It is only a matter of time before he attacks the facility where we create and train the _Vagh Rodiek_."

Tsavong Lah turns towards Vergere. "This had best go off without problems familiar, I do not wish for another fiasco like the one which occurred in the shipwomb."

Vergere bobs her head. "I understand and obey Warmaster."

-------------------------------------------------

Lu'ath stares out at the planet the infidels called New Plympto. He does so with a smile on his face, as he directs the Yoric-Vec to land in the woods to the south of the Yuuzhan Vong settlement. He looks around his bridge crew, at the faces which a few klekkets ago would fill him with disgust, but thanks to the wisdom of the _Jeedai_, now their smooth, unscarred faces fill him with pride.

He nods at them, and as one they rise from their stations, slipping into the cloaks which they had a former shaper create for them. Cloaks which if the fact that they seemed to twist and writhe even when the wearer stands still was ignored would resemble _Jeedai_ robes.

Lu'ath looks down at the grashals and damuteks surrounded as they are by the slave and shamed warrens.

He looks back towards one of his company. "Tokra."

The shamed warrior advances, and nods towards Lu'ath. "I charge you to go to Bimmiel, and spread the truth of the _Jeedai_. I shall go down among our brethren here and share the truth."

"I obey, but I do wish to overthrow those who make us suffer."

"I know, but first we must bring truth, then we can topple those who cause us to suffer. Only after we have shared the truth of the _Jeedai_ with the others, will the truth of the Jeedai set us free."

Lu'ath grasps Tokra's arm. "May the Force guide and protect us, as we share its light with our brethren."

A quick nod from Tokra, and he and the rest of the bridge crew retreat back to the Yoric-Vec. Silently the coral vessel lifts off and heads towards space. Lu'ath watches it for a moment, and then drawing his cloak tighter around him, walks down the hill, to the fields where the shamed will go with first light.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Jacen frowns down at the three bodies arrayed between himself and Ganner, and then looks up at Ganner, a frown touching his face. "Why do they always fight?"

Ganner kicks the corpse of one of the Vong warriors. "Because that is all they know."

"Surely fighting can't be the only thing they know. They have to have some sort of redeeming quality."

Ganner steps over the body walking towards the door. Jacen looks down at the warrior for a minute more, and then follows. After a moment, Ganner glances back to reply, "If they do, I have yet to see it."

"So that means it doesn't exist?"

Ganner shrugs. "As far as I'm concerned it does."

"Sentient creatures can't have a single, overarching dominate trait like that. There has to be something."

Ganner sighs. "Listen Jacen, it doesn't matter. We are duty bound to protect the people of this galaxy. They fight every time they see us. If that is all they know or not, doesn't matter, because it is all they deign to show us. At that point we can both fulfill our duty and protect ourselves and the beings of this galaxy." Ganner shrugs again, a subtle rolling of the shoulders. "Or we can let them kill us. That's the reality of the situation and no amount of sitting on our thumbs trying to think up a redeeming quality for these monsters is going to change that."

Jacen's face twists up in thought as he considers Ganner's point. He nods his head, as Ganner does have a valid thought, but something still does not feel right to Jacen about it. Jacen is certain that violence is never the answer. They arrive at the hanger where their two X-Wings are stored, and look at one another. Finally Ganner breaks the silence. "So, where do you think we should go next?"

Jacen leans up against his fighter, looking at the older Knight. "I've been thinking about that, and one of the places we know the Vong have been, but we've not visited yet is Yavin IV."

Ganner looks thoughtful for a moment, his knuckle absent mindedly rubbing the scar on his face. Then quickly nods his head. "Let's try it, the worst that happens is we waste two days getting there."

Jacen barks a short laugh as they each climb into their fighters. Within moments, they have launched their craft, and entered hyperspace on their way to Yavin. Two days later they arrive without incident. They perform a quick probe of the system, and don't see any Yuuzhan Vong activity in the immediate area. Maintaining com silence, they land in a field a short distance from the site of the old temple.

As they step out into the warm humid air, Jacen looks around at the odd plant life which is spreading throughout the area. Twin feelings of coming home and loss batter at him. So many things about the planet still seem the same to him. The smells, the sounds, the forest. It is as much his home as the steel canyons of Coruscant. Yet it has been changed irrevocably. Gone is the Jedi Temple, in its place a dying Vong building. Here where a forest at one time stood, is a cultivated field, filled with odd plants.

"Looks like the Vong, picked up camp and left after we got the trainees out of here."

Jacen nods his head, feeling a niggle in the Force. He closes his eyes and stretches out, feeling the familiar presence of grief and rage. "Yes, the Vong left, and apparently so did Anakin."

"How do you know?"

"I get an echo of him being here."

"Are you sure that's not from training or when he rescued the students?"

Jacne nods his head. "Yes, I'm sure. Most of the echoes have been washed away, bleached by the Vong's presence. But there's one echo that's brighter, shinier…newer."

"Do we know how long ago?"

Jacen shakes his head as he bends down, touching an odd looking plant that he has never seen before. "Not exactly. One, two, maybe even three months ago." He plucks a leaf, and looks up at Ganner. "Do you recognize this plant?"

Ganner looks down at it for a second. "I don't remember it during training, but botany was never my strong suit. It could be Vong."

Jacen frowns as the niggle in the Force grows more pronounced, a sense of impending doom comes crashing down around him. He looks left and right and then glances at Ganner who is holding his saber in his hand now. "You feel it to?"

An ear-splitting howl-skreech erupts from the forest, and Ganner and Jacen both drops their weapons to cover their ears, unprepared for the sonic assault.

As the sound fades, the two Jedi call their weapons back to their hands, and turn towards the forest, just in time to see a nightmare walk out.

It has six legs, and a long whip-like tail, which is covered with long tapered spikes. The flank and neck are covered by green scales, and the head opens into a wide mouth, filled with sharp teeth. As the animal drools, the spittle lands on the ground, causing little puffs of smoke to drift up.

They take two steps back, and the animal continues to advance. A moment later, it is followed from the forest by two warriors and a shaper. Jacen glances at Ganner, a sickening knot settling in his stomach.

"Any ideas?"

Ganner ignites his saber and holds it up by his head. "Just one."

Then he rushes forward, swinging low at the animal. Muttering a curse, Jacen advances as well, and then he jumps over the creature and Ganner and slams his saber against the amphistaff of one of the warriors.

He twists his saber around the amphistaff, and shoves it up into the armpit of the warrior, who twitches and falls to the ground. Gesturing with the Force, he sends a tree limb slamming against the other warrior and the shaper.

A scream for Ganner attracts his attention, and he sees the older Knight being impaled by one of the long spikes on the tail, which snaps off as the creature yanks its tail back.

Jacen reaches out with the Force trying to get the creature to calm down, to not attack them. Instead the creature turns its head towards him, and lets out another howl. Jacen falls to his knees dropping his saber again as his hands go to his ears.

The creature runs towards him, and jumps the last five meters, crashing into Jacen's shoulders, its long claws slicing through his body armor and into his flesh. The scent of buring armor assaults his nose, and Jacen opens his eyes to see the saliva from the creature burning holes into his suit. He reaches out with one hand and grabs the creature's neck, keeping the fangs away from his neck and face. With his other hand he grabs a detonator.

Then with a growl, he shoves the detonator down the animal's throat, on what he hoped was a two-second delay.

After the two seconds, Jacen opens his eyes, and sees a long strand of saliva coming towards his face; he wrenches his head to the side, as the spit lands on his cheek, and screams at the pain of an acid burn.

Then the creature explodes. Burning chunks of the animal shower both him and Ganner, and a fume of noxious gases appears. Jacen stops breathing and rolls over, trying to get away from the cloud. He stands and rushes to Ganner's side and can feel his vision going black. Grabbing Ganner he starts dragging him towards the X-Wings.

He puts Ganner into a healing trance, and works him into the cockpit of his X-Wing. As soon as the hatch is sealed, Jacen turns towards Ganner's R7 unit.

"Take him back to the _Errant Venture_."

The droid tootles in reply, and Jacen slides off the X-Wing which quickly launches. Jacen hobbles over towards his X-Wing, and opens the canopy. A wave of dizziness washes over him as he tries to get into the fighter, and he slips off, slamming into the ground, the air rushes from him in a great gasp.

Barely able to breathe, he lifts his hand and a wave of vertigo once more strikes him as he tries to stand. He collapses to his chest again, and the last thing he sees before the darkness closes in on him is the advancing shaper and warrior.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yal Paath holds the second creature to come out of the _Baanu Raas_' shaper facilities. This secondary by-product of his heresy is not as striking physically as the _voxyn_, but it brings a smile to Yal's face anyways.

He caresses a ridge of spines, and the animal sits up, and a small glow appears from his stomach region. He doesn't feel, sense, or taste any change.

But then he didn't expect to.

This animal is to keep captured _Jeedai_ where they are placed.

He looks towards where he has four of the latest batch of cloned voxyn, and smiles as they appear to be going crazy over the field effect produced by this creature, which is a shaping of a sessile tree dweller from the planet below. Infidels captured on the planet, tell the story that that tree dweller, the ysalamari strips the Jeedai of their powers. Yal can only hope that he has replicated this effect in his new invention.

Wiping his hand down the spins again, the glowing disappears. He hands the creature to one of his adepts. "Deliver the _solzan_ to those on Rodia, so it can aid in the trap to capture _Jeedai_ there."

"I obey Master Shaper." With that the adept turns and leaves the chamber as Yal Paath's face once more stretches into a sinister grin. He wonders to himself if heresy should be so much fun.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Lu'ath bows himself before the group of Nausians, and the human wearing the tattered brown robes, which cover his entire face and arms, exposing not a single bit of cloth.

To Lu'ath this is perfectly reasonable. It makes sense. The _Jeedai_ are warriors, and as such should be dressed in the armor of a warrior, without an inch of skin exposed. Also, his limited contact with the _Jeedai_ was with Lord Vader, and his plassteele mask and armor.

He raises himself and smiles.

"Thank you for meeting with me honored _Jeedai_."

The robed _Jeedai_ takes a step back, and crosses his arms over his chest.

"What exactly do you want Vong?"

Lu'ath smiles at the _Jeedai_. "To join your battle. I am a preist of the newest Yuuzhan Vong sect. We are the ones who have gathered together because the _Jeedai_ shall set us free. We eschew the marks of escalation, and work to bring the truth of the Force to all of the Yuuzhan Vong."

"So you worship the Jedi?"

"Yes, Honored One."

The _Jeedai_ places a hand over where his face should be, a shudder rocking through him. After a moment, he looks towards Yu'ath once again. "I must meditate on this. But regardless of what happens here remember that the Jedi are not gods to be worshiped."

"I understand, Honored One. _Belek Tiu_."

The _Jeedai_ turns towards one of the Nossaurians who stand around Yu'ath. "Plett, take our friend here and show him to one of the unused barracks. He is to stay under guard until we have decided what to do with him."

Plett growls and barks something in his native language which the _Jeedai_ pays close attention to. After a moment, he shakes his head slightly. "No Plett, death is not always the best thing to give to a Vong. If what he says is true, his worth is much greater alive than dead."

Plett growls in obedience, and gestures for Yu'ath to follow him. Yu'ath bows once again to the _Jeedai_ and then turns and follows the Nosuarian from the room.

---------------------------------------------

It is midnight at Bast Castle.

Anakin walks into the med-center of Bast Castle, brushing past the medical droids as they float in silence. They are used to his visits, and have long stopped asking if he needs assistance.

He walks to a door on the back wall, and raises his hand to the admittance plate set in the wall beside it. He hesitates, as always wary of entering. Of seeing her.

He jabs the plate and the door shoots open with the usual suddenness of Imperial engineering. Anakin stares into the darkened room for a moment, and then steps in. As he enters soft lights come on along the edge of the room, revealing the bacta tank sitting in the center of the room.

Anakin steps forward and the tank's interior lights activate as Tahiri floats within the tank.

He glances at the monitor built into the side of the tank, and sees the familiar readings there. No heartbeat. No respiration. No brain activity. To every medical sensor in the galaxy, she is dead.

And in the Force, she is dead.

Anakin lifts his hand and places it against the side of the tank, wishing once again she would come alive. That she would open those beautiful green eyes and call him dummy one more time.

He drops his hand.

"I miss you, 'Ri."

He glances down at her toes as they float off of the bottom of the tank, suspended in the vicious bacta.

"We're going to Rodia in the morning. The Vong are shaping something there, something from the Rodians. They must be stopped."

He slowly walks around the tank, stopping once more as he stands before her.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you."

He looks up at her face, tracing the lines of it with his eyes. Then he lowers his head and walks out of the room.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Tsavong Lah stars at the representation of the Forces which surround the infidel capital of Coruscant. Someone walks into the room, and Tsavong looks up seeing a face from his past. A smile stretches the scars on his cheeks. "Harrar. It is good of you to come."

The Yuuzhan Vong priest walks the rest of the way in, a smile on his face.

"I bring you a present Warmaster."

Interested, Tsavong Lah's head tilts slightly. "And what would that be Priest?"

Harrar nods his head, and the door opens again, with two warriors dragging in an unconscious infidel. They drop him at the warmaster's feet and then retreat from the room.

Tsavong's grin widens as he sees Jacen Solo at his feet. "Ah, the Solo whelp."

Harrar nods his head, and from the corner of his eye can see Nom Anor and the avian familiar Vergere whispering together.

Tsavong looks up at Harrar. "You have done well my friend."

Harrar turns to leave the bridge, as Tsavong Lah's familiar hops forward, followed closely by Nom Anor.

Nom Anor steps forward. "Warmaster. We have a plan."

Tsavong Lah growls at Nom Anor. "Recently not all of your plans have gone smoothly, Executor. Why should I listen to this one?"

Vergere bobs her head. "What if he could convince Solo to perform the twin sacrifice himself? Imagine it, after we reshape Coruscant into the Homeworld, we have Jacen Solo slay his twin sister, and pronounce to the galaxy that the only way is the True Way."

A light appears in Tsavong Lah's eyes, as he nods his head. "Yes! I like this."

He turns towards Nom Anor. "I approve this plan, take the Solo whelp and make him understand the True Way." He then turns back towards Vergere. "How goes your plan to capture this _Jeedai_ who is destroying our training facilities?"

Vergere bobs her head, the crest of feathers, lifting shifting from red to silver. "The pieces are in place, and the Master Shaper on the _Baanu Raas_, has sent me his newest biot which I believe shall be a great help in his capture."

Tsavong Lah strokes his claws down his chin. "Good. I want that _Jeedai_ captured and on his way to the _Baanu Raas_ prior to implementation of this plan concerning Solo."

Verger's feather crest flattens, and she bobs her head. "I obey, Warmaster."

-------------------------------------------

Anakin stands under the trees on the mountainside overlooking the Yuuzhan Vong facility on the planet. A brisk wind blows against him, playing with his cape as it flaps out behind him. He allows calm to flow into him, the metronome of his breathing an easy way to soothe this thoughts into a meditative state. Something about this bothers him. Something in the Force tells that all is not as it seems.

Beside him, he can feel Nelani, a spring-wire in the Force, her excitement is infectious. The more he watches her Force presence, the more excited he gets about the mission, the further from his mind that worry flies.

He wonders if she truly understands that she could very well die down there.

He wonders if he truly understands that himself.

He hears a low growl, and turns around before he realizes that it was himself who was growling. He refuses to let someone else that he loves die.

Anakin frowns at his line of thinking. He loves Tahiri, yet it has been over a year since her death, and they had not even kissed, but he loved her nonetheless, they completed one another. Why then is he thinking this way of Nelani? He glances at her, his eyes traveling over the tightly-fitted, navy colored body armor she is wearing. Her form has filled out over the year since he plucked her off Lorrd, no longer is she the skinny, gangly teen, used by the resistance there to crawl through places to tight for an adult. Even though her armor covers her body, Anakin's mind supplies images of her in nothing but a training outfit, with sweat glistening over her exposed skin as she runs through her katas for the hundredth time. He glances at her black hair which is pulled up into a simple braid, tucked back up under itself.

Silently he wishes that he could run his hands through her hair.

Before that thought can continue he clamps down on it. She is his apprentice, his helper in his vengeance, not a love interest.

Yet he can't get the feel of her hug out of his mind.

She feels his attention, and lowers the macrobinoculars from her face to look at him. "Master?"

He gives a quick shake of the head, not trusting himself to speak, and walks back towards the ship, wondering once again if his vengeance is worth this. He glances again towards his apprentice, who has once more taken up her surveillance of the enemy, and wonders if her soul is a price that he can pay for his revenge.

He starts up the speeder bikes, and pushes them out of the ship, where they hover. Nelani hearing them leaves her surveillance and comes over.

"Any last orders Master?"

"Just stay close; I don't want us to get separated."

She smiles coyly. "I obey Master."

Anakin nods his head, and curses his weakness that her smile can cause his stomach to flutter like that. Only Tahiri's should. He gives his head another quick shake, trying to dispel these thoughts about Nelani as he mounts his speeder bike. A quick glance towards her shows she is already on her own, and is quietly checking the weapons she is bringing along with her.

As he watches her, she finishes her checks, and lifts her head to him, giving a quick nod. With that, he faces forward and punches the throttle, shooting the speederbike through the woods, and towards the Vong compound.

He can feel the wind tugging at his cape, and almost wishes that he had removed his helmet, longing for the feel of the wind on his face and in his hair. Then he focuses once more on his mission. On his revenge.

He glances towards Nelani, and sees her braid flapping in the wind, as she crouches over the controls of her speeder. He looks down at the console, and sees that they have neared the shaper compound.

As he slows his speederbike down, a large creature leaps at him, and his danger sense goes off as it collides with him. He can hear a short yip of pain and shock, and assumes one has attacked Nelani as well.

Anakin's eyes narrow as he recognizes the garrals from Wayland, and remembers that they are attracted to the sound of repulsors. With an effort he lifts the animal up and tosses it away from him.

It lands on its feet, and begins running back towards him. Anakin sets himself, and as it jumps towards him, he flicks his saber up slicing through the animal, which lands in two halves on either side of him. Turning he looks to Nelani, just in time to see her white blade come out of the garrals's head.

She heaves the animal off, and he holds out a hand to help her up, which she grasps, while once more giving him that coy smile.

Anakin walks over to the animal he killed, and then realizes that he hadn't let go of Nelani's hand. Feeling a blush creep up his cheeks, he is suddenly glad that he has the helmet on and drops her hand as he kneels down beside the beast. Looking at it, Anakin realizes that he was not entirely correct about the creature; while it appeared to be based on garrals it had enough differences that it was not the same creature.

He glances up at Nelani, whose face is slightly red. "This animal has been shaped. It is a good bet the Vong know we are here."

She gives a quick nod of her head. "So should we abort the mission?"

Anakin looks over her suit, telling himself that he is looking for any holes or cuts in her armor. "Are you hurt?"

She stretches her arms. "Just bruises. Its claws didn't break the suit."

"Good, let's walk the rest of the way to the compound. It should only be about forty meters that way." Anakin begins walking in the direction indicated, a small knot of concern sitting in the back of his head.

They continue to advance, that worry in the back of his mind staying there.

"Master?"

Anakin glances back at her, and notices as she is looking left and right. "Yes, Nelani?"

She turns her attention onto him, her eyes wide and filled with fear. "There's something coming."

Anakin nods his head. "I know. I'm expecting it."

Nelani's rocks back slightly, surprise replacing the fear on her face. "Oh."

Anakin chuckles and turns back around, just as a crab-like leg steps out of the forest. He pulls his blade as a second one appears, and mutters a curse as the creatures hauls itself from the woods.

Nelani lets out a short scream of fear at the sight of the creature, a reaction Anakin can understand all to well. He can feel his own eyes widen slightly, as he looks at the creature which rests its bloated body on four crab-like legs, and where arms used to be, long slivers of armored bone extended out. The head which resembles a rodian's looks at them without intelligence, and where a rodian has head-spines, this creature has half-meter long quills.

"Calm yourself Nelani. Let the Force flow through you."

Anakin can hear the fear still in her voice. "Is that-that thing what you were expecting?"

He chuckles slightly. "Not quite what I was expecting."

The creature lowers its head, and one of the quills shoots out, striking Anakin's armor and shattering there. Anakin looks down and sees a small dent in the armor where he was struck, as he ignites his saber.

A second snap-hiss tells him that Nelani has turned her saber on as well, and they both attack, a flurry of strikes and ripostes, all of which are blocked and parried by the curves of armored bone.

The creature knocks Nelani backwards, and lowers its head. With a small puffing noise, a quill shots out and strikes Nelani, breaking through her armor and implanting in her arm. She screams out a curse, and Anakin growls.

He grabs for the Force, pulling it to him, and then strikes out at the creature. Pouring dark lightning into and through it, as it lays unmoving, he reaches out with the Force again, and rips the creature apart.

His chest is heaving and his armor is splattered with gore as he stands over the things remains. He turns around and rushes to Nelani's side.

"Let me see."

Nelani holds out her arm, and Anakin mutters a curse. Standing he walks over to the creatures head and looks closer at the quill, noting the hooked end. He curses again as he returns to her side.

"We need to push it all the way through."

Her eyes widen slightly as she nods her head in understanding.

"Help me get your suit off."

Then he breaks the portion of the quill which sticks out of her arm.

Gently the take the top portion of her suit off, and Anakin tries his best to keep his attention off the halter top she has on underneath her armor.

"I want you to shut feeling off to your arm, can you do that?"

Nelani nods her head, and closes her eyes, and Anakin can feel the Force start flowing around her. "I can't feel the arm any longer Master."

"Good. Now I'm going to count to five, and push it through, do you understand?"

"Yes Master."

"One. Two. Three."

Anakin uses the Force to push the quill the rest of the way through her arm, and she cries out in pain. As he reaches around to pull it through, he finishes his countdown. "Four. Five."

Her eyes pop open, accusation flaring in them. "You did it on three Master."

Anakin laughs and nods his head. "I know."

"You lied to me."

"No I did not. I told you that I was going to count to five and that I was going to push it through. I did both."

Her eyes narrow, a pout forming on her lips.

As he helps her get back into her armor, he gasps out loud. Nelani suddenly gasps as well, and grasps her arm, crumpling to the ground and starting to whimper with pain. His eyes narrows as realization comes to him.

The Force is no longer with him.

He stands up, and pulls out his saber. He ignites his weapon as the first warrior steps out from the forest.

He utters a curse when the fifteenth comes out.

An odd creature hops out of the forest following the warriors. She does not appear to be Yuuzhan Vong, but is covered in short blue feathers, and has reverse articulated legs. She spreads her beak wide, an approximation of a smile, as the crest of feathers on the top of her head lift, and shift from orange to blue. In her hands she holds a small animal with a glowing stomach.

"Welcome young Jedi. Please put your weapons down and come with us. We do not wish you to kill your wounded companion."

Anakin growls and grips his saber tighter. He pushes his right foot forward setting himself into an attack position, the rage and hate building within him. He moves the saber hilt so it's on the same level as his shoulder, aimed towards his right knee, his elbow cocked in the air above him.

The avian speaks again. "Think Jedi! Do you wish for the young one there to be killed? Is that what you are after? Is your vengeance against these warriors worth her life? Remember, o servant of life, her life is not your own to sell in your quest for revenge."

That statement stabs to the heart of Anakin's confusion over the past few months. His concerns over dragging Nelani into the Dark along with him flare to life in his mind once again. "If I come with you, you'll let her go?"

She caws a laugh. "Of course not little Jedi, she comes with us or she dies. The choice is yours."

Anakin's mouth compresses into a thin line, and he glances down at Nelani, who is looking up at him with fear in her eyes, shaking her head.

Her voice attracts his attention again. "Choose and act, little Jedi."

Anakin extinguishes his saber and dropping it, falls to his knees.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

Jacen finds himself in the white of agony. It consumes him, devours his hopes and dreams.

It devours his self.

He has yet to see a single Yuuzhan Vong since his capture. He only has seen the White.

The White is all consuming, all knowing. When his voice has screamed itself ragged, until he can no longer hear it himself, when his skin feels like it is ready to flake away, and his bones rip from each socket, the White releases him.

It drops him back into the world of colors and memories, and an entirely different type of pain, as his body regains strength; his joints snap themselves back into place.

He has no idea how long he exists in the White. Be it hours, or days or years.

He doesn't even care. All he knows is the White, and when he is within its grasp he is the White and it is him.

The first time he sees her, he has to wonder what she is doing. A bundle of feathers sitting in one corner, her fathomless eyes watching him, as his body twists back into shape as the White releases him from its agonizing embrace.

"Who, who are you?"

His voice is a bare whisper, hoarse, cracking. He does not recognize the sound of his own voice. Even though it is weak, and barely audible, she replies.

"I am Vergere. Who are you?"

Jacen runs his tongue over dry, chapped lips. "I'm Jacen."

He struggles to sit up, and finally manages, his body screaming its protest. "What are you?"

Vergere's head tilts to the side. "I am Vergere. What are you?"

"I am a Jedi."

A blur of feathers. "No. To be a Jedi, you must be alive."

"But I am alive."

"No, no you're not. You are dead. You've been dead since you landed on Yavin IV. And you are dead now."

"No! No, that's impossible! I'm not dead!"

Vergere shakes her head again. "My apologies, here I thought I was speaking with an adult who can see the truth of his situation. But it appears that I am merely speaking with a child, one which still wishes to cling to illusions and fallacy."

Then Vergere jumps up, and hops towards the door. Without saying another word, she goes through, and it closes behind her, leaving Jacen alone.

"But I'm not dead."

Then he can feel the tentacles which are wrapped around his arm begin retracting, pulling him back. The White calls for him once more. He fights it, tries to use the Force to push back the pain, but the White is inexorable, and inexhaustible.

The White comes regardless of how he fights.

Minutes pass or days. In the White it is all the same.

He is released, colors and sight assail him once more, and once more Vergere sits before him.

"Who are you?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why am I in pain? They're not even asking me any questions."

"All life is pain, and pain is life. That is the belief of our Masters."

Jacen shakes his head, even though the movement sends screams through his body. "No, pain is not life, life is joy and happiness."

Vergere opens her mouth an issues a musical chiming, an almost whistle, and Jacen feels as if she is laughing at him. "What foolishness. No, life is born in pain and dies in pain. Joy and happiness are illusions grasped onto by those to weak to see life for what it truly is."

"And it truly is pain."

Her beak opens wide in an approximation of a smile. "Exactly!"

Of course he has to wonder if she really is smiling. It is merely the opening of a beak, slightly wider, for all he knows it could be the feathers on her head which signify amusement for her species. As he watches those feathers, they lift slightly and twist going from silvery-blue to a blood red.

"But why am I here?"

The White begins to call for him again; a tightening of the tentacles which grasp his arms and legs.

Her smile grows ever slightly wider, becoming somewhat carnivorous. "Why to learn of course. To learn the True Way."

Then the White has him, and attacks his defenses, pushing away his attempts to keep himself from the pain. He has mere moments to consider her last words as the white once more devours him.

---------------------------------------------------

The _Errant Venture_ slowly slides through real-space, her giant engines pulsing in an inaudible thrum.

A flicker of pseudo-motion and a starfighter drops from hyperspace; a large burn mark runs down one side, evidence of pursuit before she made it into hyperspace. The droid who pilots it, queries for a landing spot, and permission is granted.

As it lands, the starfighter is greeted by a mix of beings, Jedi Masters all. Standing in a half-circle around the landing spot are Kam and Tionne Solusar, Cilghal, and a changed Luke Skywalker.

Where once his face would have been open and happy, it is now lined with misery and grief. Even holding his two month old son cannot change the fact that his wife is in one of the freezers down in the morgue.

As the X-Wing lands, a technician runs to her side, and climbs up, opening the cockpit. The group of masters watch as the technician speaks into a comlink and begins pulling someone out from the ship. Worry flashes in Kam's eyes as he jumps onto the ship, and helps get Ganner out.

By the time they get him off the ship, and down to the ground, a medical crew has arrived with a stretcher. Cilghal touches his shoulder briefly, her eyes closed. After a second, her eyes pops open. "Get him into a bacta tank."

The medic nods her head, and pushes the stretcher out of the hanger. Luke continues to stare out the hanger as the other masters look at him. After a moment, Kam turns towards the technician. "Found out what you can about where that starfighter has been, and what happened to the one that was supposed be with it."

The tech nods his head and Kam jumps down from the X-Wing, and steps closer to Luke. "Luke?"

Without a word, Luke turns away and leaves the hanger. A moment later Tionne comes up and slips her hand into Kam and lays her head on his shoulder. Kam looks down at her, for a moment, a frown pulling down on his features. Then he looks once more towards Luke's back as the leader of the Jedi Order leaves the hanger, his head lowered, and shoulders slumped.

Tionne's musical voice sounds from beside him. "Do you think he's going to be all right?"

Kam gives a quick shake of the head. "I wish I knew.

A few minutes later, the technician comes over to Kam with a datapad. "Master Solusar?"

"Yes?" Kam turns to face the tech.

"Here're the recordings from the X-Wing and the astromech."

Kam takes the datapad from the young man. "Thank you Timor."

Then the technician leaves. Together Kam and Tionne go to a nearby conference room, and plug the datapad into the display system.

The faces slack, they watch the fight between Jacen and Ganner and the Vong. Tionne cringes back and into Kam as the creature lying on top of Jacen explodes. Then they watch as Jacen gets Ganner back into the X-Wing, and orders the astromech to take Ganner to the _Errant Venture_. The final scene before the X-Wing leaves atmosphere is of Jacen falling off his own craft, and two Yuuzhan Vong walking towards him.

The screen goes dark, and Tionne hitches a nearly silent sob. Kam gives her hand a gentle squeeze, then leans in and kisses the temple closest to him. "I must go see Master Skywalker about this."

Tionne nods her head, and wipes away a tear with her hand. "I know, and I've got lessons to attend to."

Kam spares a single glance for his wife before leaving the room, and heading towards Master Skywalker's quarters.

He arrives, and his finger hesitates over pressing the buzzer for admittance. If Ben is sleeping, that would awaken him. Instead Kam probes Luke with the Force, letting the Master know that he wishes to speak with him.

A few moments later the door slides open, and Luke is standing there, his eyes bloodshot, more lines carved into his face, and it appears as if he had not shaved in three days.

"May I come in?"

Luke steps aside, and Kam enters the darkened quarters. In the corner he sees a deactivated nanny droid standing next to a crib. Luke motions for Kam to enter a secondary room which Luke uses as an office.

"What do you need Kam?"

Kam hands him the datapad. "I have more bad news Master."

Luke looks up from the datapad, a haunted expression on his face. "HA!" A short bark of a laugh. "It appears that bad news is the only type for us these days. Anakin has fallen, Mara is dead, and a third of the Jedi I have no idea what they're doing. And Kyp, well Kyp apparently used Jaina to destroy a civilian Vong facility. So tell me, what bad news do you bring?"

Kam glances at the wall, and squeezes the bridge of his nose between his fingers. He hesitates a moment, then finally looks up at Luke. "I'm sorry Master, but it appears that Jacen was captured."

Luke slumps even further into his seat.

"Why?"

Kam shakes his head. "I don't have an answer for that Luke. But we all know that Lah has been demanding that he be turned over since Duro."

Luke turns away, placing his head on the desk, then he lifts his hand and quickly balls it into a fist and smashes it down up on the desk. Kam turns his attention to the far bulkhead.

"What about Anakin? Are we going to give up on him?"

Luke shakes his head. "I felt him trying to save Mara you know."

Startled Kam turns from his inspection of the far bulkhead to once more look at Luke. "No, I didn't know that."

"I can only hope that means he's coming back to us. It's a large galaxy, I doubt we'd be able to find him if he doesn't want to be found. His shields are too powerful; I can barely sense him out there. If Tahiri were alive, she might have been able to find him."

Kam shakes his head. "If Tahiri were alive, I don't think we'd have this problem."

Luke lets out another short, sharp bitter laugh. "I wonder if this is why the Old Jedi Order forbad attachments. That the uncontrolled grief when the one we're attached to dies is too easy to give into, to easy of a path to the Dark."

Kam shrugs. "Maybe, but we don't forbid attachments. And frankly, the love which these attachments bring is so much more important and necessary to us, than stopping the possibility of uncontrolled grief."

"Is it Kam? Would you still feel this way if Tionne died?"

Kam's face hardens as he considers the question. "Maybe not right at the time of her death, but right now, and probably after I have grieved I would. Attachments make us whole, they complete us as people. Could you imagine not having been married to Mara?"

Luke rubs his face. "I know you're right. Intellectually. But right now it's hard to find that emotionally."

Kam smiles at the Jedi Master. "I can understand that perfectly Master." He hesitates for a moment, and then changes the subject of conversation. "What do you think about the girl who has been seen around Anakin on a few of these reported sightings?"

Luke places his fist in front of his mouth as he thinks. Then he gives a brief shake of the head. "I don't know Kam. We just have to wait to see if he comes home to us before we can find out about her. Now if you'll excuse me I need to contact my sister. I need to tell her that Jacen has been captured."

"I understand. If you need anything Luke, don't hesitate to call me or Tionne. In fact, why not let Tionne and I take Ben off your hands for a few hours later today. Give you a few hours uninterrupted rest time."

Luke looks up at Kam, the circles under his haunted eyes, deep and harsh, the pain in them unbanished by the shallow smile on his lips. "Thank you Kam, and I'll call you for that when he wakes from his nap."

Kam stands and gives the Master a short bow before leaving the room.

Luke watches the door for a moment, and then pulls the holonet transceiver closer to him.

Kam walks slowly and silently down the hall towards the infirmary. He arrives and goes to stand before the bacta tank where Ganner floats. Cilghal walks over and nods her head.

Kam turns to her and forces a smile to his face. "Can you tell me what happened to him?"

She shakes her head. "He was suffering from a dozen different retroviruses, each of which appeared designed to kill baseline humans. I recognized another seven dozen which were dormant, and were apparently designed to destroy Mon Calamari, wookies, Duros, and a host of other races. Each of whom are represented within the Jedi. One of the wounds contained a flesh eating bacteria, and there was damage to his ear drums from some kind of sonic assault."

Kam's mouth tightens as he turns back to Ganner. "Will he survive?"

"I'm not sure. He is in a healing trance and we've got him in some of the purest bacta that the Vratix can produce."

Kam bows slightly. "Thank you Cilghal. I guess we just have to trust in the Force."

Cilgha's barbels twitch. "Yes, that is all we can do."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Anakin twists his head, looking around the small cell. Like everything else Vong, the room is a living thing, the walls pulsing slightly as if they are breathing. He struggles against the blorash Jelly which holds him tight against a bone spar which runs from floor to ceiling. Nestled on a small shelf by the door is an animal about the size of a hoojib, with short bristling fur and a glowing stomach.

The door puckers open and Anakin watches the warrior as he comes into the room. The humid air of the Vong vessel feels odd on his bare flesh after so many months of being locked behind the armor. The ice chips which are his eyes follow every movement the warrior makes.

The warrior snarls at him. "I am not allowed to kill you _Jeedai_. I find that a horrible restraint against my honor."

"I'm sorry." Anakin allows one side of his mouth to twitch in amusement, and gives an earnest bob of the head. "Really, I am."

"You cannot mock me Infidel."

Anakin barks a short laugh. "Yes I can, you can just be too stupid to understand when I'm mocking you."

The warrior's fist strikes out, catching Anakin on the side. The four spines on the warrior's fist digs into the side of Anakin's bare chest, and then the warrior rips his fist away. Anakin's jaw clenches but he does not scream.

The warrior growls in frustration. "A worthy sacrifice and I'm unable to offer you to the Gods myself. What a despicable situation."

The warrior's other fist comes in fast, and the sound of a breaking rib echoes in the small cell, but Anakin still does not make a sound.

The warrior pulls out a small animal, and flicks his wrist. The animal unrolls itself, to a length of just over a meter, as it hardens into shape, Anakin looks at it, reminded of a baton. The warrior hefts it a few times, thumping one end into his other palm. He looks down at Anakin – towering over him – an appearance of happiness shining in his eyes. The thunk echoes in the small chamber as the warrior slaps the baton-animal onto his opened palm. "This is a louaton. Similar to the coufee, but it does not have a cutting edge."

Then the warrior slams the louaton on the side of Anakin's chest, just above the four gashes. As his body twists and sways with the blow, Anakin still refuses to make a sound.

The warrior snarls as he strikes again, the strike is accompanied by the crack of a breaking rib as it echoes throughout the room.

Fire flashes in the warrior's eyes, as he puts the louaton back into a pouch on his belt. "If you will not make music for me, I will have to go visit the other _Jeedai_."

Horror flashes in Anakin's eyes, and he lets a low growl come from his throat. "Do not touch her you honorless worshiper of Yun Shuno."

The warrior laughs as he backhands Anakin across the face. Then he strides from the room. Anakin strains to hear, to escape. He snarls in anger and frustration as he struggles against his bonds.

As the first scream reaches him, a low growl erupts in his throat, and he struggles harder against the borlash jelly which holds him fast to the bone spar.

The ship shudders, and there is no additional screams. Yet Anakin refuses to let go of his hate. He lets it burns there in his heart, the desire to make them pay for hurting Nelani a bright light within his chest. Still he struggles against his bonds, finally falling limp and exhausted.

He stares at the door for hours, waiting for the warrior to return.

And when he does, the warrior is not alone, Anakin watches as the five warriors enter his cell, and his eyes glitter darkly, a cold fire indicative of his rage. They are laughing to themselves, laughing at him. They pull him from the wall, and push him forward, one picking up the animal with a glowing stomach.

Anakin nods his head, understanding that that is what is keeping his Force powers at bay. He steps through the door, and sees another five warriors out there waiting for him. Before he can do anything, he is pushed from behind.

"Walk _Jeedai_."

Anakin casts a glance behind him, and then strides forward, each step his hate and anger growing.

They lead him down a ramp-tongue and out onto the surface-port of a worldship. He looks up, and sees a planet hanging like a jewel above them. Anakin frowns as the warrior behind him pushes him again. He knows that he has seen that planet before, but cannot place it.

Then it comes to him. Mrykr.

--------------------------------------

Nelani raises her head, just that simple movement makes everything scream in pain once again. She tries to free her arms, but they are still stuck behind her in the blorash jelly. Across the room, she can see the small animal with a glowing stomach. A solzan one of the Vong called it. And it is the source of her current lack of powers.

She lowers her head, as the past once more flows over her.

She is lying on the ground, the Force suddenly gone from her and the wound on her shoulder tripling in pain. Through the pain and haze, she sees her Master assuming a fighting stance. Yet her heart despairs as multiple warriors and some bird-like creature emerge from the forest.

She hears the bird creature speaking, threatening her life. There is the simplicity of truth to the bird's statements. If Lord Vader fights, there is no chance for her survival.

She wants to tell him to not worry about it. To save himself.

Yet he drops his saber, sacrificing his freedom to ensure that she lives just a little while longer. Part of her despairs over this, that they both are being captured.

Yet another, greater part of her soars. He values her that much.

The door yawns open, and Nelani is jolted out of her memories, pushed back into the present as the warrior strides in, his armor glistening sickly in the orange light from the Vong biots. She lowers her head, not wanting to see him.

Then there is a fire in her head, as he grabs her hair and yanks her head up; she grits her teeth biting back the pain which days ago would probably have been enough to incapacitate her. She wonders about this, could being exposed to pain immunize her to it? Make it more and more bearable?

Her eyes focus on the warrior, on his tattered lips, and missing nose. His exposed cheek muscles twitch, and amusement rolls over the warrior's face.

"_Jeedai_, I must deliver you alive to Myrkr. But fortunately for me, that is the limits to my orders."

He drops her head, and slams his fist into her cheek, the spiked implants on his knuckles drive through her skin, and she screams in pain as her head whips around from the force of the blow.

"What beautiful music we make together _Jeedai_."

From the corner of her eye she can see him pull his fist back, and she winces, bracing herself for the impact. Then the ship shudders slightly, and the warrior drops his fist, looking towards the front of the ship. Growling he stalks from the room. The door closes behind him, and Nelani slumps against her restraints, blood from her cheek running down her face and dripping to the floor.

She lets out a little sob, wondering what is going to happen to her next, where her Master is. Ultimately she wonders if he is even still alive.

She hangs in the cell for hours, the blood on her face drying to a hardened scab even as her heart breaks more and more. Then the door opens and two warriors walk in. One picks up the solzan, the other releases her from her bonds. She collapses to the ground and the warrior who released her kicks her. She doubles over and around her stomach, her breath rushing from her, as she fights back the urge to vomit.

"Get up _Jeedai_!"

Nelani struggles to stand fighting back her tears, sniffling slightly. One reaches down and drags her into a standing position by her hair; once they get her to her feet they push her forward. She stumbles out of the door.

"Walk!"

She winces at the brighter light of the hallway and is pushed again from behind, ordered to not stop. She is eventually led out of the ship, and she gasps as she sees a planet hanging above them. Bright, shining and beautiful. She wonders which one it is.

Then she is pushed from behind again, and led inside the worldship, through a processing area and pushed into another, larger cell. In the corner is a human male, wearing black pants and nothing else. He is crumpled and lying in a ball curled up around himself, a wound oozing slightly on his side.

With a wet slurp the door closes behind her, and she spins that way, hearing the laughter of the guards.

She sinks to her knees, the tears she has been fighting since she was led from her other cell finally starting to fall. Through her sobs she is able to say four words, "Master where are you?"

"Nelani?"

His voice is weak, barely a whisper, but it cuts through her tears. She stands and spins in one fluid motion, dropping into a fighting stance over the screams of her battered body. She sees the man in the corner with his head lifted towards her, his ice-blue eyes staring at her, an almost smile on his lips. She cocks her head slightly, as she readjusts his age, putting him not as a man, but older than boy, a teenager about the same age as herself.

There is something familiar about him.

"Nelani."

His whisper of her name is almost a prayer, a supplication, a reverent demand. He struggles to stand, wincing in pain from the wound to his side, and with worry she steps towards him, her natural compassion overriding her shyness. He gives up his struggle, and collapses back to the ground.

"Nelani."

Then she recognizes him. She had been looking at his picture just a few months before Rodia. Anakin Solo.

She steps forward, closer to him. "Master?"

He barks a laugh, wincing again in pain. "Some Master I turned out to be." He places his head back on the stone floor, and begins staring at the wall again. She moves to his side, and sits beside him, pulling his head onto her lap, and stroking his hair.

"It will be all right. We must have faith in the Force." She hesitates for a moment, before speaking again in a low whisper. "Anakin."

His body hitches, and she can feel tears as they start to soak into the legs of her pants. One of his arms snakes around her, clinging to her desperately. His reply is barely above a whisper. "I was so worried about you. I'm sorry I got you into this mess."

She looks down at him, continuing to stroke his hair. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

-----------------------------------------------

The planet Coruscant, a giant ball of silver hanging in space. It is a planet covered almost exclusively with constructs of durasteel and duracrete. Millions of billions of sentients live on it.

It has the single greatest population in the galaxy, and has been the home of the galactic government for at least 25,000 years.

Throughout its long history it has changed hands between governments dozens of times. Most recently the New Republic wrested it from the hands of the Imperial Remnant. It is protected by dual layered shields, thousands of Golan II space platforms, and the Home Fleet, comprised of seven battlegroups, with each battlegroup containing an Imperial Mark II star destroyer, three Mon Calamari _Dauntless_-class cruisers, and a host of lesser capital ships.

The Advisory Council, in an effort to protect the heart of the New Republic, has ordered Fleet groups One, Two and Three to return to Coruscant and take up protective orbits. Each of these fleet groups is three times the size of Home Fleet.

It is the single greatest gathering of warships since the Battle of Coruscant during the Clone Wars.

And as the Yuuzhan Vong start arriving; it quickly becomes obvious that it is not enough.

Supreme Commander Sien Sovv stares at the holographic representation of the system, his chubby jowls tightened in concentration. He looks up at the humans and bothans and Mon Calamari who makes up his command staff.

"No matter what, we must keep the planetary shields up. That is our most powerful defense."

He looks towards a communications technician. "Give me a fleet wide and planetary defense com channels."

The technician nods her head, and punches a few keys. Then looks at him, and points a finger.

Sien nods his thanks. "Defenders of Coruscant and the New Republic, the Yuuzhan Vong are here. To those manning the planetary shields, I urge you to remain at your posts. Ensuring the shields stay up is the primary consideration, because the shields are the last, best hope for Coruscant. To all forces in orbit, if the shields go down, that is an Omega signal. Your Fleet commanders know the rendezvous point for that eventuality. Obey your commanders, and fight with everything you have. We can prevail against the Yuuzhan Vong. May the Force be with you."

He shuts off the comlink, and looks around the group surrounding the holographic table. "May the Force be with us all."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Anakin awakens to the sound of the doorway slurping open, a comforting weight and warmth pressed tightly against his side, wrapped inside his arms. He opens his eyes and looks down, seeing Nelani nestled in his arms, her own wrapped tightly around him.

He looks up at the warriors standing there, waiting.

A shaper walks in, a crazed look in his eyes as his headdress wriggles slightly. Nelani makes a noise of disgust at his appearance.

"Ah, my two _Jeedai_ specimen are awake" The shaper bends down, and touches Nelani's chin. "I do think it would be interesting to attempt the protocols from that heretic Meezhan Kwaad upon her, but the trials are more important. You two should feel honored; you get to test the voxyn."

"Voxyn?"

"You will see." He turns and leaves the cell. "Bring them."

Anakin's joints and muscles groan as he stands, he turns and offers his hand to Nelani who uses it to help herself up. Then rather than dropping her hand, he laces his fingers with hers, and side-by-side they walk through the door.

They exit into a shaper's laboratory. In a cage along one wall is a six-legged creature, which is drooling and straining against the restraints placed around it. The shaper's face twists into enjoyment at the sight of the creature. Then he turns to face Anakin and Nelani.

"This is a voxyn." Again, the half-crazed chuckle comes from him. "She hunts _Jeedai_."

He nods his head, and a door opens, revealing a wide expanse of grassland. Nelani gasps and the shaper looks at her oddly. "What? Did you expect our worldships to be all corridors and cells? No, we modeled them after our worlds, and then grow buildings upon them."

Two warriors step away from the wall, a flash of metal attracting Anakin's attention. He focuses on their hands and sees his and Nelani's sabers. As the warriors arrive at the portal, they cock back their arms and throw the sabers out into the grassland.

The shaper's face twists once more into the grin. "Just so the experiment is more like real conditions, you have the chance of weapons. You have a two minute head start. The voxyn will continue to be released until you are captured or killed. Their release will occur in random numbers and increments after the initial voxyn have been released."

The flat nonchalant way which the shaper says that catches Anakin off-guard and it takes him a second to process it. But as soon as he understands, he pulls on Nelani's hand dragging her out through the portal and into the field.

They get twenty meters from the shaper's laboratory, and the Force floods back to them, Anakin grins, as he stretches out his hand, calling to the lambent in his saber, calling to his saber. A flash of metal and the weapon is once more in his hand, a thump beside him, and he looks down and sees Nelani has her own saber as well.

Having a weapon in his hand makes him feel better, and he touches the Force. He can feel it coursing through him, revitalizing him, strengthening his abused muscles and body. Beside him, he can feel Nelani doing the same; he wraps her within a Force embrace, somewhat surprised at his actions.

Even more surprising is when he feels her gently caress him in return.

A roar, unlike anything either of them has heard before sounds from behind them, an ear-splitting sound which almost qualifies as a physical punch. The two grasp onto the Force, pulling it to them and run faster.

Anakin looks around, trying to get an idea on how they can survive. He sees a copse of stunted, twisted trees and runs that way. As they arrive, he tosses a glance behind him, and notices a rustling movement in the grass.

He looks at Nelani. "Into the trees."

She uses a Force powered jump to get near the top, and as soon as he is certain that she's settled he jumps into a neighboring tree. His eyes narrow as he watches the rustling movement come closer. Then the voxyn's spiked head pokes out of the grass, swaying slightly from side to side. It stops its movements, and looks up into the tree, staring directly at Nelani.

The voxyn jumps forward, slamming hard against the tree, and Nelani lets out a gasp of surprise and grips the tree tighter. As it falls towards the ground, Anakin makes his move. Using the Force, he propels himself towards the voxyn, igniting his blade as he nears. As he moves past the animal, his blade cuts through it, removing the creature's head. He lands and rolls to a stop, noticing a cloud of green smoke coming from the remains of the creature.

He looks up the tree, a twist of a smile on his lips. "Come on down, and let's keep going, see if we can find a ship off this rock."

A flash of movement and she drops beside him. She straightens, her smile matches his. He takes her hand, and they once more start running. His eyes start scanning around them, and he reaches out through the Force trying to find any threats.

To the left, the ground drops away into what appears to be another copse of trees. Anakin leads them that way, and they soon find themselves in a swamp, slowly wading through thigh deep water. They keep their movements slow, cautious, stilling the water displaced by their passage as much as possible with the Force.

"Reach out with the Force, search for danger, and try to feel things through the lambent in your saber."

She gives a quick bob of the head. "Yes, Master."

Anakin winces. "Don't call me master. If I was good enough to be a master, we wouldn't be here."

Nelani stops and turns towards him. Anakin follows suit. She reaches out her hand and touches his face. "Don't say that. I know, we both know, why we're here. I was too weak; I was not able to defend myself, so you surrendered so that I might have that much more life."

Anakin reaches up and touches the tear, as it slowly makes it way down the side of her face. "It might have been weak of me, but I couldn't watch while someone else I knew died."

Nelani turns away, and once more heads forward. "We all die sometime, Anakin. That's just a fact of life."

He shakes his head, as he begins following her. "You're too young to be so bitter."

"And you're not, Lord Vader?"

Anakin suddenly stops, coldness seeping into the Force. He turns in a circle, ignoring the ripples his movements cause. His voice is a hiss. "Into the trees. Now."

Nelani jumps, using the Force to push herself higher, and grasps a branch. She leverages herself up, her saber held at the ready, as she watches the swamp around them.

Anakin lowers himself, and backs up against the roots of the trees; his muddy head barely visible against the bark, his ice-blue eyes the only giveaway of his position.

_Be still!_ His Force command calms Nelani, a sign that he has a plan and a purpose. She presses her body tighter against the tree, bracing herself into a position where she doesn't need to move.

The rustle of waves lapping against her tree, and she glances down. She almost has a panic attack when she can't see Anakin, but he opens his eyes for a briefest second, a quick glance up at her, then he closes them, and he is once more just part of the scenery. She finds herself smiling that he would be so attuned to her feelings, that he would take that second to reassure her, that he had not abandoned her.

The sound of rustling waves comes again, this time closer. She hears the guttural bark of the Yuuzhan Vong language. The warriors advancing upon them are making no attempt at hiding their presence. She seems them now, four warriors, their amphistaffs wrapped around their arms, as they stalk through the swamp.

A fifth rustle of water and Nelani focuses on it. As she watches, a snout pokes out, mean eyes, bristling head spines and sharpened teeth. A voxyn. Then the snout disappears back into the water. The only sign it is there the whisper rustle of water.

She opens herself to the Force, showing Anakin what she sees. The snout pops up out of the water again, staring straight at her. Her heart drops, as that fang-filled mouth opens. A forked-tongue flicks out of its mouth, and then it lets loose with a screeching roar.

The wave of sound slams into Nelani, and it is all she can do to remain lodged in her spot in the tree. Her ears ring, and dizziness assails her, and she can feel the sharp alarm from Anakin.

The warriors gather around the voxyn, looking up at her. The animal rushes over, and reaches up with its front two paws, pushing against her tree. The warriors advance forward, and all stand with their back towards Anakin. One pulls something from a bandolier, and throws it into the tree.

Nelani's eyes widen as the blastbug flies towards her, she stands up, and jumps, putting a Force wall between herself and the Vong. As the warriors start pointing and screaming, the blast bug hits the wall and explodes, knocking Nelani even higher.

Barely heard over the sound of the explosion is the sound of Anakin's saber igniting. It takes him but a second to decapitate the first warrior, and another moemnt to stab the second warrior in the throat.

Nelani falls down, grabbing at a tree limb. Her hand catches hold, and pain flares in her wounded shoulder. Her body twists, slamming her chest into a lower branch. The shock of the second impact causes her muscles to spasm, and she loses her grip on the limb, falling down through the trees, slamming into the water.

Anakin's next slice is caught by the amphistaff of the third warrior. He flicks his blade around, stabbing behind him, and hears the fourth warrior grunt from the impact. He ducks under the slash of the third warrior's amphistaff, and turns on the ball of his feet so that he faces the fourth warrior. He brings his blade up from beneath slicing through the weak joint where the leg meets the hip. Anakin saws his saber, and feels it tug free, slicing the leg away. The fourth warrior plunges beneath the water with a gurgle.

Nelani's opens her eyes, her lungs burning at the need to breathe. Her head breaks the surface of the water, water sputtering from her mouth. She gains her footing, and starts to stand, when she is struck from behind, the weight of the voxyn pushing her down. Before her head crashes beneath the water she can hear her scream.

Nelani's scream distracts him, and the warrior uses his amphistaff as a whip, the tip wrapping around Anakin's shoulder and cutting into his back. Anakin pushes with the Force, and a wave of water washes against the warrior, toppling him over. Anakin turns to where Nelani was, and sees the voxyn's head submerge. He opens himself to the Force, pushing at the animal. The voxyn's head lifts back up above the water, and a stream of green bile shoots out of its mouth.

Anakin dodges, the bile slamming into the tree behind him, eating away at the bark.

The voxyn leaps towards him, and Anakin throws up a Force wall, letting the voxyn land on it, then he tips the wall and pushes, throwing the voxyn against the tree behind him. Anakin moves against the voxyn, as it opens its mouth, a gurgling noise as it prepares to spit acid at him again.

He snarls and shoves his blade forward, stabbing it deep into the back of the voxyn's throat. Then the Force tells him to move, and he pulls back his blade and dives to the side, the sound of an amphistaff hitting the water right behind him. He surfaces and sees the voxyn thrashing about, smoke pouring from his mouth and ears.

Nelani surfaces, gasping for breath, a shiver running through her, as her body spasms. She looks around, and sees Anakin stabbing the voxyn, and rolling away as a warrior slices at him. She pulls her saber back to her hand, and jump towards the warrior, shoving her blade into the warrior's neck. The warrior collapses, and Nelani drops to her knees, the water lapping at her chin.

Anakin splashes over to her. "You all right?"

She looks up at him, a shiver running through her body again. "It scratched my back."

Anakin walks around her, and sees the six long gashes on her shoulders, and frowns. He holds his hand out to her, helping her up. "Come on, we need to keep moving."

Nelani nods her head, and they head off once more. They walk for an hour, and near a ridge. Anakin creeps up to the top of it, and looks down upon a small city. He frowns as he sees a dozen different species walking around. Then sighs as he realizes that each of the sentients wandering that city is sporting the white nodes of slavecoral.

He gazes around, and notices a small cave off to the side. He taps Nelani on the shoulder, and she looks up at him, her skin pale, and beads of sweat stand out on her forehead. He frowns, worried over the sudden onset of the fever. He gestures towards the small cave, and she nods her head.

The stand, and walk down to the city, him supporting Nelani most of the way. As they enter the streets the denizens ignore them, going about their business as if the two Jedi were a normal part of the routine.

They continue slowly, heading towards the small cave, sticking as close to the buildings as possible. Soon they come to the point where they will have to cross the main through way for the town. Anakin hesitates at the corner of the building, a frown settling on his features.

Nelani slumps against the wall, her body shivering uncontrollably. She looks at Anakin, and sees the frown. "Don't be sad."

Startled Anakin turns towards her. "What?"

She stretches out one of her hands, caressing his face. "Don't be sad. Promise me?"

"I Promise. Why would I be sad?"

She lowers herself to the ground. "Because you already are." Then she closes her eyes, as her breathing lessens.

"Nelani!"

He touches her forehead, growling at the fever she has. He reaches out with the Force, feeling the infection as it attacks her body. He pulses the Force through her, trying to expunge the virus.

He brushes the mud-caked dirt away from her face. "Don't you dare die on me Nelani."

Frowning as he looks around, he touches her forehead once more, submerging her into a healing trance. Then he picks up her body, cradling it against his chest, and heads towards the cave he had seen. As he nears it, he realizes that it is much bigger than he had originally guessed. With a quick glance behind him he walks into it, starting down the path into its darkened interior.

He walks down the cave, casting looks over his shoulder every few meters. Then he reaches the end and realizes that the cave is slowly being filled with the refuse of the slaves, all manner of mechanical devices.

But what attracts Anakin's attention, what draws him, is the YV-888 light freighter, sitting there immediately before him. His face twisting into a smile for the first time since Nelani collapsed; he walks around the starship. He sees some writing on the side, and steps back to read it, _Tachyon Flier_. Still smiling he quickly boards the craft, laying Nelani on a blast couch in the common area.

As he walks towards the bridge, he depresses the close button for the ramp, suppressing a shout of joy as it works.

He flicks some switches, as the engines thrum to life. He glances at the consumables on board, frowning at the levels of air and fuel. Unsatisfied, he closes off the two additional decks, and pumps the air out, leaving air only in the areas where he and Nelani are.

He flicks a few switches, and pulls up the navicomputer. He inputs a course, checking to see if he would have enough fuel to get there, his smile becoming greater as he realizes he does.

He runs some diagnostics, getting clean reports for them all. Then he checks the weapons system, nodding his head happily. He turns on the main power, feeling the thrum of the main engines. He stands up, to activate the secondary generators and the air cyclers for the cockpit and common room where Nelani is. As he does so, the thrum fades, and the lights start to dim. He growls, and slams his fist against the panel, and the thrum comes back, and the lights brighten.

He returns to his seat, and activates the repulsers, slowly allowing the _Flier_ to drift forward from the cave. He nears the edge, and hesitates a moment, unsure of what using the main sublights would do in the confines of the worldship. He looks out upon the small town, and decides it doesn't matter, getting Nelani help is more important. He activates the main sublights, and pushes the thrust to maximum. With a roar, the _Flier_ jumps forward, rocketing past the village. He pulls back on the flightstick, aiming the ship towards the roof. As he closes the distance, he activates the Merr-sonn torpedo array, and fires a salvo.

They detonate against the coral, and chunks rain down upon him. Anakin fires again, and more coral pings against the hull. He fires his third salvo, the explosion ripping a hole through the coral skin of the worldship, and the _Flier_ slips through and into space.

He twists the craft around, and activates the shields. A glance at the tactical display shows a dozen skips coming up to meet him, and he heads towards deep space, waiting for the navicomputer to tell him it has a valid hyperspace jump.

The ship shakes as the lead skip opens fire, raining plasma upon the shields. With an explosion of sparks, the shields fail.

The incoming tone chimes again at the same time as the navicomputer. Anakin reaches for the hyperspace levers and as the Flier shakes with another impact, yanks them toward him.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

General Ba'tra stares up at the ceiling of the Orbital Defense Headquarters. Allowing the view from the optical ceiling there calm his nerves, ease his tension. This is what he was trained for.

Defense. Attack. To destroy the enemy

His lips pull back from his teeth, revealing the sharpened fangs. Parts of him love this. Seeing the enemy spread above him, the thousands upon thousands of vessels as they revert from wherever the Vong go for faster than light travel. The sharpened tang in the air from the fear and excitement pheromones of a half dozen other species.

Lowering his eyes from the optical ceiling he turns his attention back to the holographic display of the system, the expanse of red which represents the Vong flotilla, the slowly circling ball which represents Coruscant, and the mass of blue arrayed between the planet and the Vong which represents the Republic fleets.

Of most concern to Ba'tra is the green though. The green represents the mine field and orbital platforms which are directly beneath his command.

Finally the red stops amassing, and Ba'tra's ears twitch as he stares at the hologram, wondering what the Vong are planning. From beneath their flotilla a mass of the red starts flying out, heading towards Coruscant, their colors flickering from red to yellow.

Ba'tra's ears flatten against the back of his head as he turns to his aid, a serious looking young human girl. "Why did they switch colors?"

The aid types something on her pad, then looks to Ba'tra. "Because their IFF transponders just came on, sir." She hesitates, and then pulls the ear piece out, a look of horror on her face, as the fear pheromones start to pour off her, causing Ba'tra's nose to twitch.

"They're broadcasting."

Ba'tra taps his ear piece twice, setting it to the general communication channel, and hears the mass of noise, a babble of voices which he can't distinguish. Frowning he hits his ear piece again and then deftly touches one of the moving yellow lights.

"…currently holding five thousands refugees. I repeat this is the _Dawn's Light_ from Ornos and we are…"

He touches a different light.

"_Jumping Shark_ and we currently hold seventeen hundred refugees. Rep-"

Yet another light.

"-five hundred ref-"

"-acks and curr-"

He snarls and taps his ear piece, putting it back on the command channel. He looks around at the crew. "I don't care what you're hearing on the com channels. We stay at our posts, do our jobs and try our best to ensure that Coruscant does not fall. Is that understood?"

He gets a chorus of affirmatives, and turns back to the hologram, anger smoldering in his eyes as he watches hundreds, if not thousands of yellow dots swarm towards them.

--------------------------------------------------

Danni Quee keeps her hand grasped against one edge of her console, as the blast boat which makes up the primary firepower of the Wild Knights squadron twists into a dangerous spiral. Her eyes scan the controls, and she grins as she sees the readings indicative of a yammosk.

She presses the ear piece to break into the command channel. "We've got the yammosk carrier, I'm sending out the IFF information on it now."

She hears Saba's hissing voice in reply. "Thiz iz good Danni. Knightz prepare for package drop."

Danni flicks another few switches, focusing a sensor array on the vessel carrying the yammosk.

A light starts to flicker into existence around the blastboat, one created by the Jedi Knight Izal Waz. The sphere of golden light covers the blastboat as well as the x-wings of the Wild Knightz as Saba hisses lightly with laughter.

"Dropz the package"

As usual, the Vong cruiser they were aiming for had gotten nervous and aimed a singularity at the ball of light, dragging everything within it towards the singularity.

"Now!"

The ball of light fades away and the the x-wings jump away from the blastboat firing proton torpedoes at the cruiser analong. The dovin basil handlers on the Vong craft react accordingly, drawing the singularities away from the still dissipating ball of light to catch the explosions of the proton torpedoes.

They never even see the black two-ton slab of durasteel which their initial singularity had accelerated to a sizable fraction of the speed of light.

As the coral vessel disintegrates from the collision Saba begins hissing with laughter again, and Danni cannot help but grin as well.

She turns back to her sensors, and her breath catches in her throat. The experimental Gravity Amphilication Modulation Sensor is going haywire.

Her grin turns into a full-fledge smile as she yells in joy, startling Saba. The Jedi Master turns towards Danni.

"You scared this one Danni Quee. What iz wrong?"

Danni shakes her head, as she continues watching the data scroll across the mechanism. "Nothing Saba, nothing at all. In fact something wonderful is happening."

She presses a few buttons, and then turns towards Saba. "I need a gravity well generator or a crystal grav trap."

Saba turns in her seat to face the young scientist. "What?"

Danni stays focused on her panels. "I think I can jam them. The yammosks I mean. I need a gravity well generator though."

Saba's eyes narrow slightly. "Thiz one will make the request."

Danni does not answer, her attention already taken up by her equipment.

-----------------------------------

Wedge Antilles stares at the generals and admirals around him.

"Why exactly does this Jedi need an interdictor?"

Wedge slowly focuses on the speaker. An Arconan general who name escapes Wedge at the moment. "Because she asked nicely."

The general sputters in reply, and Wedge slowly grins. "Now, which of those interdictors sitting on the far side of Coruscant's primary can we bring into Coruscan't gravity well for that Jedi's needs?"

Admiral Salmainth, the Noghri in charge of black ops, speaks in his gravely voice. "The _Corusca Gem_ is probably best"

Wedge beckons over one of the aides. "Contact the _Corusca Gem_'s captain, and put her under the command of Jedi Sabatyne."

As the aide salutes and walks away, Wedge activates the com system again. "Jedi Sabatyne?"

"This one iz here General Antillez."

"Momentarily you will be contacted by the captain of the _Corusca Gem_, to provide you access to its gravity well generators."

"Thank you, general."

"Can you tell me why you need them? Some of the generals around me don't seem to understand." As he says this he looks pointedly at the Arconan general and smiles as she squirms slightly beneath his steely gaze and the Jedi's hissing laughter.

After a moment, Saba speaks again. "This one waz assigned to work with a scientist by the Master. She believez it possible to jam the yammosk, and seeks access to the gravity well generator for thiz end."

"Thank you Jedi Sabatyne, please keep us informed of your progress."

"This one will, General Antillez."

The com channel shuts off, and Wedge looks towards the Arconian again. Her name suddenly flashing into his mind. Yill Osool. "I trust that that is reason enough to lend the Jedi this interdictor General Osool?"

Osool does not reply, just tersely nods her head, and returns to coordinating her portion of the battle as Wedge turns the holographic display to show him the full battle. His eyes narrowing slightly as a swatch of the red dots turn yellow. He looks up at one of the battle coordinators.

"What is happening here?"

The coordinator looks up from her datapad, a look of concern on her face. "We just received IFF information for those. Apparently they're slave transports."

Wedge frowns slightly. "What are they doing?"

"Accelerating towards Coruscant."

Wedge looks at her, horror dawning on his face as comprehension dawns. "Contact shield control, have them reinforce the power to the shields. Those shields can't go down." He looks at the mass of yellow advancing towards the Republic Forces and Coruscant.

Then he looks back towards the coordinator. "Also contact ODH and tell them that to not activate the mines on the prisoner transports. Save them for the Vong warships."

"Yes sir" Ignoring the lieutenant's salute, he turns his attention once more to the display as the yellow quickly closes.

--------------------------------------------------------

Jaina sits in her cockpit, happy to once more be flying with Rogue Squadron. She looks out the canopy and sees the expanse of stars, knowing that some of those reflected dots of lights are in actuality Yuuzhan Vong warcraft.

She glances over at her wingmate, a human female named Illisa Tiv and smiles as the perky blonde waves at her. She wiggles her fingers in response, and then settles back into the crashseat waiting for the command to do something. She looks down at one of her displays, and frowns as it shows a mass of yellow dots flying towards their position.

She frowns at them for a second and then hears the click of the command channel being opened.

"Rogues, ignore the yellows and let them through."

Slightly confused, Jaina clicks her com twice in quick succession and strains her eyes to see what is advancing. Within moments she is able to, as a CR90 cruiser comes hurtling towards her.

She pushes the stick down and away causing her x-wing to roll out of the path of the vessel. Frowning she allows her craft to come back to a rest so she can watch as the ship continues its path towards Coruscant.

Her frown deepens as she continues to watch as it is ignored by the Golan stations and the mine field. Confused, she aims a sensor sweep towards Coruscant and sees the normal dual layered shields as they flow in opposing directions over the planet.

And as the corvette explodes in a ball of orange and yellow, causing blue electrical discharge to flicker over the top shields - she understands.

As the Force screams from the death throes of hundreds of sentinents - she understands.

The refugees are a sacrifice for the Vong's blood-thirsty gods.

She growls slight, and twists her X-wing back into position as an HT-2200 flies past her wingman. She winces minutes later as the Force howls once more.

Finally her displays lights up with targeting information and the command channel crackles to life once more.

"All right Rogues, light them up. We have some coral to break."

She pushes forward on her throttle and her X-wing jumps forward, a quick glance at her display shows that her wingman is tucked in tight aft and starboard beneath her. She starts slowly rocking her craft side to side as the slews of balls of super-heated plasma flash past her canopy. She closes with the first flight of skips and starts peppering their lead with stutter shots.

A joy rises up inside her at the prospect of destroying the Vong culpable for the deaths of so many innocents this day.

She shudders as the death throes of another thousand sentients washes over her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Alema and Numa Rar duck under the branches of the tree, Lu'ath following behind them quickly. Around and about them, a group of a hundred Nosuarians and other Shamed heretics rush away from the Yuuzhan Vong base.

Lu'ath spares another glance towards the two nubile Jedi, still wondering why they had hidden who they were from him and the Nosuarians for the weeks and months they worked to build up the resistance on New Plympto.

A leather flap of wings flickers past overhead, and Lu'ath lifts his blaster, and tracks the blast bug. He pauses for a stop, and pulls the trigger causing the blastbug to evaporate in an explosion that is half blaster bolt and half Vong weapon. Without another thought he starts running once more.

Finally, the group comes into view of the ancient freighter which has been supplied to the Resistance leadership to get them off the world. Alema, at least Lu'ath thinks it is Alema, stops at the ramp and quickly enters a code, causing a ramp to swiftly lower.

Lu'ath boards the craft, looking around the interior in half amazement. He had heard stories of flying in metal craft, but still has not been in one. But he can understand this; after all he is a Yuuzhan Vong.

Finally everyone is aboard, and the ship lifts off from the surface of New Plympto and rockets towards space. The ship takes up a stationary orbit around Karsten, and Lu'ath looks out towards New Plympto, noticing how the green of vegetation is slowly turning black.

He presses his hand against the smooth transparisteel of the viewport, as New Plympto is slowly turned into a barren wasteland, as lifeless as the moon they currently orbit.

His voice is soft, a eulogy for an entire world. "There is no death, there is the Force."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One**

Luke stands on the bridge of the _Errant Venture_, Booster and Kam are there beside him staring at the screen in front of them. It is a holomessage from Coruscant, giving details of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the Republic's capital, and requesting assistance from any ships close enough.

Kam Solusar is there, and Luke can feel the desire to help the capital boil in the Jedi Master. Luke turns to his friend. "I know you want to be there Kam, but we can't. Not with the trainees on board."

Kam nods his head. "I know Master, but it hurts for us to lose the capital. I don't know if the Republic can stand it."

"Does it truly matter?"

Kam takes a step back, his eyes widening as if Luke's words were a physical blow. "Of course it matters Master. How can you say otherwise?"

Luke sighs and lowers his head. "I'm sorry Kam; I just can't seem to work up the energy. Corran and Tahiri dead, Jacen captured, Anakin Force knows where and…and…"

Luke turns away, shutting down his Force presence, pushing away his grief and pain. Kam drops his hand on Luke's shoulder. "It's all right to grieve Luke."

"I know Kam; I just never really expected that I would have to. I never thought she'd die in childbirth."

Kam nods his head, giving Luke's shoulder another gentle squeeze as he turns to look out at the stars. "I can understand that."

"But I do guess Corran was right."

"About?"

Luke makes a short sound of almost amusement. "Back before I sent him on the mission to Belkadan, I was standing in the grove where we placed the plinths to commemorate the dead. Corran was there and told me that we wouldn't be putting one for Mara there."

"Luke, I think you should watch this."

Luke and Kam turn back towards Booster, and the new message. It is a news broadcast from the Corellian System.

"To recap our top story, it has been reported that the Centerpoint Station has once more activated itself. The cause of this reactivation is currently a mystery, as Centerpoint has remained inoperable since the New Republic Debacle last year." The picture changes, displaying a blocky Corellian freighter, as it heads towards Centerpoint. "Our sources in Corellian Defense supplied us with these images of an VT-888 light freighter named the _Tachyon Flier_, which was reportedly seen entering Centerpoint's hanger."

The image changes again to display Coruscant. "Also, we have been receiving reports that the Yuuzhan Vong have finally moved against Coruscant. If the Capital-"

With a wave of his hand, Luke has turned off the transmission. His face is stony and guarded as he looks between Kam and Booster. "We need to go to Centerpoint."

"What? Why? Besides, if going into Coruscant is too dangerous with the trainees onboard, how much more so is going to Corellia, where there's a weapon that can destroy us with barely any effort?"

"Because, there's a reason why Centerpoint has been inoperable since Anakin last visited it, and why it was inoperable between Anakin's visits."

Understanding causes Booster's face to twist into a frown and a scowl. "Anakin controls Centerpoint?"

Luke nods his head. "Anakin is the only one who is able to operate Centerpoint, which is why NRI had him go out there. Which means, if it has suddenly become operable again…"

Kam breaks in. "That means we know where Anakin is at right now."

"Exactly."

Booster turns towards the crew pit. "Helm, flank speed to Centerpoint in the Corellian System."

With a subtle shudder, the giant starship flashes into hyperspace, the stars replaced with the swirling blues. Luke can feel his features hardening, as they drive themselves closer to Centerpoint. He looks between Kam and Booster.

"When we arrive, I'll take the _Jade Shadow_ in, so that the _Venture_ can pull up and get back into hyperspace, wait for me in the Sacorran System. If I'm not there a day after you, move on. I'll either find you later or I'll be dead. Kam, I need you and Tionne to take care of Ben and the students for me."

"Master, let me go-"

Luke holds up his hand. "No Kam, I need you to stay with the students, they are the future of the Jedi. I just hope that we can still count Anakin among them."

Kam nods his head, realizing that there is no point in arguing with Luke over this.

"Fifteen minutes until reversion."

Luke glances once more out at the swirls of hyperspace. "May the Force be with you."

With a swirl of his robes, he has turned and is taking long strides from the bridge. A weight pressing against him, as he calmly walks forward. He rides the turbolift down towards the _Jade Shadow_; this will be the first time he has set foot on the craft since Ben was born. Since she died. He wonders what ghosts will haunt him there.

He wonders if he will be able to see through his grief, to help Anakin see through his.

_Inhale, exhale._ The simple mechanics of being alive have suddenly become a chore to him.

The doors slide open, and he steps out onto the bustling hanger. Lubricant and fuel, the smells of a lifetime ago, when he was just some farm kid from nowhere, pulled into events to large for him to comprehend. As he breathes deeply of those smells, he wonders if life would have been better if he had stayed on that ball of dust all those years ago.

He shakes his head, dispelling the wanderings of his mind and looks for the _Jade Shadow_. He sees her in her usual landing place, having been pulled up from deep storage moments ago. She is a beautiful craft, sleek, graceful, and deadly. Like her owner.

He sighs as he trips the hatch, walking up the ramp, with a confidence on his face that he doesn't feel. He settles into the pilot's station, a glance behind him shows him that Artoo has appeared as if from nowhere, and is happily plugged into the astromech station.

The faithful droid tootles a greeting, and Luke turns back to the pilot console, activating the ship. He closes his eyes and exhales as he can feel the craft waking up around him, powering up. A slight shake from the main generators coming online. The whine from the repulsers and ion engines warming up. Sounds he used to love, but which remind him now of her.

A deeper, subtler shake and Luke looks out the magfield, his eyes once more seeing the cold pinpricks of stars. The comunit crackles to life. "Master Skywalker, you are green for launch."

He gives a double-click in reply, and smoothly lifts the craft from the deck using the repulsers. The slight resistance of the magfield, and then he is through, once more surrounded by space. He punches the ion engines, and the _Shadow_ jumps forward, speeding towards the ever looming Centerpoint.

A crackle from the comunit again, this time it is Booster's voice saying, "We'll be waiting for you at the rendezvous Luke, hurry up and join us."

Luke can't help but smile, a memory of another sad time flickering through his head, as he unconsciously balls his artificial hand into a fist. "I expect to see you there, with our lost bird in tow."

"Copy that Luke." Then the _Errant Venture_, shifts course slightly, and her engines flare into life, driving her forward. Then she seems to stretch into infinity, and is gone, disappearing once more into the safety of hyperspace.

Luke turns his attention from where she disappeared, back to Centerpoint. Back to the coming confrontation with Anakin.

As he watches, the center sphere glows brighter, and a flash of energy flies out of the station, heading to deep space. Horror rushes into Luke, as he realizes that the Centerpoint weapon had fired. "Anakin, what have you done?"

He slips the craft into the hanger, and calmly walks down the ramp. He turns to the side, and sees the freighter which Anakin came in on, and beyond that another freighter which Luke recognizes, the _Lucre_, the ship which Anakin, Corran and Tahiri left on so many months ago.

Luke closes his eyes, and reaches out, brushing Anakin's Force presence.

His probe slams against the durasteel walls of Anakin's shields.

Sighing, Luke enters the giant space station, using the Force to guide his steps. He steps into a corridor, and feels a surge of pain and grief, one so powerful and unexpected, it causes him to stumble. He turns right, and continues walking down the corridor, following the path which Anakin took. He arrives at a doorway leading towards a medcenter, and steps through. Hoping his youngest nephew is uninjured.

Without troubles he finds the medcenter, and enters, a solid tone sounds throughout the room. Within the medcenter is a bacta tank, one which is activated with a green light shining through the bubbles. Floating in the bacta is a young girl, around Anakin's age, a deep cut on her cheek, and shoulders. He walks around the tank, and see the wounds on her back. Long jagged slices ripped into her flesh. He finishes the circuit and checks the life signs monitor. A frown comes to his face, as his hand hovers over the power button.

He checks the motion, and instead deactivates the alarm. Then he turns from the room, going back to the corridor he was in. He once more follows Anakin's presence, searching for him.

"Go away Uncle Luke."

Luke spins around, searching for Anakin.

"Just get off the station, and leave. We don't need you here."

Luke laughs at himself, as he looks up at the security cam. "Well I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere."

A door opens somewhere ahead of him. "Please Uncle Luke? I didn't want to do this."

Luke hears the shuffle of metallic feet against steel floors. "Then don't Anakin. Come back with me."

"I can't. Not until I've had my revenge."

The stomp of metallic feet draws closer, and Luke turns back the way he was heading. A frown appears on his face at the sight of the twenty Phase II Dark Troopers stretched across the corridor. He ignites his saber, a green beacon in the dim corridor.

Luke laughs. "Do you really think that they'll stop me?"

The troopers lift their carbines, the click of twenty safeties being removed is almost deafening. Luke cocks his arm back, holding his saber at the ready.

"Just leave Uncle Luke. Let me finish what I've started."

"I can't do that."

A sigh sounds on the intercom, and the click of it being shut off. The troopers begin firing, a rain of deadly red bolts which Luke starts sending back towards the droids. The whoosh of a missile sounds and Luke sees it flying towards him. He grabs it with the Force and twists it around, sending it back towards the Dark Troopers.

It lands amidst them, the explosion shaking the corridor they are in.

More of the red darts fly out of the smoke and fire, and Luke bats them back towards the droids. The smoke starts to settle, and a thump shakes the ground.

Standing in the hallway is a Phase III Dark Trooper, Luke recognizing the bulky battle armor from a debriefing of Kyle Katarn. He raises his saber back up into a guard, and jumps forward. The Dark Trooper jumps as well, his jetpack bursting quickly, sending him hurtling towards the Jedi Master.

As they pass one another, Luke slams his saber into the Dark Trooper. At the same time the droid slams his fist into Luke. Luke slams into the wall at the same second which he realizes that his saber had died.

A puff of the jetpack, and the droid lands in front of Luke, its assault cannon pointed pressed against Luke's head.

Luke lifts his saber, pointing it towards the droid's chest, and then activates it. To his horror the beam comes out until it connects with the armor, at which time it sputters and dies.

"Cortosis?"

There is no reply, and he sighs. Luke hears the droid's assault cannon whirling up to begin firing, and he presses a Force wall to the muzzle. Then he pushes back against the droid, sending it tumbling.

The droid fires, the explosion ripping apart the assault cannon, sending shrapnel slicing through the droid's armor. Luke jumps up, and ignites his saber, slamming the blade into one of those cuts, wiggling it around, vaporizing the droid's innards.

The explosion when his saber pierces the power supply lifts him and throws him further down the hall. Luke lands and rolls to a stop against a closed door. He lifts himself off the ground, gingerly touching his head, pulling the hand away and sees blood.

He straightens, and continues walking down the hallway once more.

The purple glow in the distance tells him that his journey to find Anakin is nearly at an end.

---------------------------------------

Kyp and his Dozen flash into existence above Coruscant's ecliptic. With a feral grin, he orients his X-Wing towards the thousands of yorik coral vessels that are attacking the planet. He flicks on his com to the squadron channel.

"All right Dozen, we're here to take care of Coruscant and kill some Vong. Any questions?"

He gets a couple nervous chitters of laughter, but no responses beyond that. With a grin still on his face, he clicks off the com.

"Zero-one?"

His astromech tootles sound over the starcraft's speakers, even as words appear on a monitor. "Yes Kyp?"

"Get me a course to the nearest furball."

A jagged line appears on a screen, as a directional arrow appears on the head's up display. The line flows downwards, and heads into a mass of flickering lights in the distance. Kyp pushes his X-wing down, following the direction the arrow indicates, even as he flicks a switch, prepping his fighter for battle.

His craft arrives in the mass of coralskippers and New Republic fighters, and he aims the fighter towards a group of three skips. His engines flare into life, and his craft jumps forward, his Dozen spreading out behind him. He glances to starboard, and sees the blonde that pilots that craft watching him. Her name is Lora Tiff, and she is one of the survivors of the Dantooine massacre. He tosses her a salute as she waves at him, and he can't help but smile.

A chime sounds over the speakers, and Kyp turns back to the front, just in time to see a trio of skips flash past his canopy. He growls low in his throat, and twists his ship back around to follow them. He falls in behind them, a glance at his monitor shows that Lora is tucked in close beside him. He squeezes the secondary trigger for his laser cannons and watches as the ruby darts flicker out towards the skip.

The low energy darts pepper the hull of the skip he's aiming for, causing little puffs of coral to vaporize out into space. With a grin, he pulls the primary trigger sending a full powered blast towards the skip.

And nothing happens.

Kyp's eyes widen, as he checks his monitor again, and it shows what he knows already. The skip placed a void in front of his full energy blast.

An explosion on his starboard aft, slews his craft around, he glances back just in time to see an orange flightsuit flash past his canopy. He looks down, and sees the icon which represents Lora is gone.

"Zero-one, peg me the skip who got Lora."

His lips tighten, and anger flashes in his eyes, as he fires a few more full powered blasts at the skip he was originally aiming for. As that skip explodes, an icon blinks on his HUD and a circle appears around one of the moving rocks that dot his view.

The skip dives, and Kyp follows, firing the stutter bolts at the skip in question.

"This is for Lora."

After a moment more he sends the full powered blasts, and snarls as they are once more absorbed by a void. He sends more full powered blasts until they rip through the clear canopy vaporizing the Vong who sits within it.

Zero-One flashes a warning, and a look of horror crosses his face as a cruiser analog suddenly decelerates, coming to a near stop, and sending bursts of plasma out towards Kyp and his Dozen. Kyp's warning sense screams, as he dodges the balls of superheated matter, and arms his proton torpedoes.

He flips on his com, as he targets the cruiser. "All right Dozen, I'm sending coordinates now."

He doesn't hear any com-clicks in reply.

He only hears static.

He looks down at the monitor and sees all the icons which represent the Dozen are gone except his. His mouth drops open in shock.

"They're all dead."

His hand convulses and sends two torpedoes flying towards the cruiser. Kyp grits his teeth, and slams his fist against the console. "They're all dead, and I lead them to their deaths."

Zero-One sounds an alarm, just as the X-Wing rocks from an impact. Kyp turns towards the coral vessel, and his eyes flash yellow for a second.

"Enough!"

He stutter-fires at the cruiser, and with the Force grabs the Void which absorbs the bolts. With a snarl, he exerts pressure in the Force, moving the void back until it touches the hull of the coral vessel. As he releases his control, he watches as the cruiser rips itself apart as it is pulled into singularity.

Exhausted, he leans back in his crash couch, and pulls his starfighter up, and away from the battle, even as the first of his tears start to flow.


End file.
